Home & Garden Television (HGTV), a cable-television network operating in the United States of America, broadcasts a variety of home and garden improvement, maintenance, renovation, craft and remodeling shows.
Like its sister networks (DIY Network, Fine Living, Food Network and Great American Country), HGTV belongs to Scripps Networks Interactive of Cincinnati.
The network sponsors the annual HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.
History
Kenneth W. Lowe (then a radio executive with The E.W. Scripps Company and subsequently CEO of Scripps Networks Interactive) envisioned HGTV in 1992. With modest financial support from the E.W. Scripps board he purchased Cinetel, a small video-production company in Knoxville, TN, as the base and production hub of the new network.
Cinetel became Scripps Productions, but producing more than 30 programs simultaneously proved daunting. The organization brought in former CBS television executive Ed Spray who implemented a system of producing (nearly all) programming through independent production houses around the US. Burton Jablin, as VP of Programming, set the tone and oversaw the production of the early series. About 90% of the network was original at launch, with 10% licensed and re-run from Canadian, PBS, and other sources.
Using local Scripps cable franchises (since divested), the FCC's "must carry" provisions of Scripps medium market television stations and other small television operators to gain cable carriage, the network launched in 1994. The major programming themes, unchanged since the beginning, were home building and remodeling, landscaping and gardening, decorating and design, and crafts and hobbies.
The channel originally started as the "Home, Lawn, and Garden Channel". The name was shortened and a logo developed. The network debuted with a skeletal staff, but with gradual acceptance by other cable operators, it now reaches 94 million households in the United States and has either partner networks, or network interests, in Canada, Japan, and elsewhere.
E.W. Scripps spun off HGTV and the other Scripps cable networks and web-based properties into a separate company, Scripps Networks Interactive, in July 2008. E.W. Scripps broadcast television and newspaper properties remain in the original company.
Programming
Currently airing
Notable shows currently not airing
HGTV HD
HGTV HD, a 1080i high-definition channel, originally did not simulcast its parent network, but featured programming separate from HGTV.
On March 31, 2008, HGTV, along with Food Network launched its HD simulcast of its standard definition feed. Standard definition programs on the HD feed are stretched to fill the screen rather than presented in their original 4:3 aspect ratio.
International
In 1997, a Canadian version of HGTV launched. It subsequently became a joint venture between Canadian company Canwest and partners Scripps Networks and Goldman Sachs.
External links
