Can someone explain HGTV.....very progressive

[cally]

I've been avoiding news again except on the internet. I've started watching HGTV. Over the past few months, I've watched several 'design' shows with openly gay or lesbian couples. I just watched one where the men were discussing their relationship and comforting each other with tears and very emotional discussions. I've seen several with mixed racial couples, one with a white Grandma designing a room for her grandchild. I was not very sympathetic thinking another rich white family designing a palace for their princess. She runs in and she's african american. Of course, lots and lots of white couples with two children. I assume the audience of HGTV is more traditional and yet it's one of the most progressive networks on TV in terms of lifestyle. Maybe that's why women tend to be more accepting than men. Women tend to watch these shows more than men.

[NMDemDist2]

1. I, too, have been watching HGTV. shows how liberal I am

i hadn't even noticed, but you're right

Hubby is hating the "honey-do's" that channel engenders, but I love the shows :)

[Piperay]

2. Lots of the shows are Canadian

that would explain the progressive slant. I LOVE H&G! :-)

[Maat]

3. I've noticed the same thing.

The reason I watch HGTV is because I initially turned it on every night at about 9 P.M., so that my eight-year-old daughter would get so bored she would fall to sleep (you know, 'which designer is going to get the contract?'). The trouble is ... we're both getting into it.

Unexpectedly, I noticed the diversity, and I was happy about it. I'd say, "Look, the owners really like it" or whatever. It's fun.

[catzies]

4. Sorry but I'm cynical and think they just know a market when they see it

:shrug: Sorry.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. maybe, but everyone else is pretending the market doesn't

exist.

[Piperay]

9. True but

but most of the time the right things are done for the wrong reasons like greed...it's just good that this time greed happens to promote the progressive slant.

[progressivebydesign]

30. No.. it's not the market, it's the design world. n/t

[Longhorn]

5. I was thinking the same thing yesterday

as I watched a landscaping show on HGTV where a man surprised his partner with a backyard makeover. I think the more "nontraditional" families are shown as loving, caring, responsible people, rather than being immoral deviants, as conservatives and some Republicans like to depict them, they will become increasingly accepted and respected.

[cally]

7. That's why I think it's progressive

Just normal folks with problems like all the rest of us. I love the clutter show.

[Arugula Latte]

20. Oooh, me too.

I love seeing people get rid of crap and the before/after juxtapositions. It makes me feel good about my house, like "Well, I'm not NEARLY as bad as these obsessive-compulsive pack rats." It's also inspiring. I've been going through little problem areas all over the house. I'm currently taking a break from cleaning my junk drawer.

If there is one good thing that came out of election 2004, it is that it forced me to deal with my house more.

[Bridget Burke]

6. Most of their shows are considered "Reality" programming.

Not the "Let's throw Rosco to the polar bear" type--but they deal with real-life people solving their decorating problems. And reality includes households not solely consisting of Mom & Dad & 2.3 kids.

Besides, HGTV is devoted to home decor. The only decorators in the closet are probably installing a fabulous custom system--shoe racks included!

[orpupilofnature57]

10. My wife is addicted to those shows, she says a nice break from

Artificial drama, nothing comprehensive .

[givemebackmycountry]

11. Just out of curiosity--what media giant owns HGTV? n/t

[juajen]

12. I don't know, but I first started watching it to catch Martha Stewart,

and have been hooked since. Of course, I'm watching it much more now that I am not tuning into the news channels.

It's really good TV.

[SharonAnn]

15. E. W. Scripps owns HGTV, DIY, Food, Fine Living, Shop at Home

and GAC (Great American Country). The division is named Scripps Networks and is located in Knoxville, TN.

They also own Scripps Howard newspapers.

I'm doing some contract work at Scripps Networks right now and they're a very interesting company - a lot like the "dot-com" companies used to be.

Here in Knoxville their HQ office has lots of women, some minorities, and some gay men.

DIY (Do It Yourself) channel is often filmed here. HGTV is usually filmed on location in different cities. Food network is based in New York and lots of filming is done there (the new office is in Chelsea ?). Shop at Home is based in Nashville and the newly purchased GAC (Great American country) was in Denver but is being moved to Nashville.

Although the parent company reported earnings down 10% last year, Scripps Networks is growing like crazy. The group I'm working with is being moved to a new office building next quarter because of not enough space at HQ.

[Philosophy]

19. I used to live about a mile from their office

I lived in Knoxville when HGTV built their new office. Drove past it every day to work for awhile.

I moved away from Knoxville just over a year ago. I kind of miss it - I used to think it was a pretty conservative town when I was there, but after a year in south Alabama, Knoxville seems like a liberal paradise.

[Pretty_in_CodePink]

31. Scripps-Howard - I think

[jrthin]

13. I'm a liberal, HGTV watcher.

Have seriously gotten into it since the farce of the 04 election and the blatant onesidedness of our corrupt press.

Also, I didn't think one way or another about the gay characters. The gayness didn't register on my radar.

[givemebackmycountry]

14. Scripps Networks

I went to the HGTV homepage and at the bottom of the page is a link to the E.W Scripps home page.

[catmandu57]

16. We watch it more now

and yes I've noticed the diversity and I really find it refreshing.

[Stop_the_War]

17. GO HGTV!!!!!!!!!!

:yourock:

[spikesmom]

22. This is why HGTV is so great!!!

Everyone gets along - gays ,straights, bi-racial couples! It is a beautiful thing!!!!

[Jazzgirl]

18. My favorite network!

Its on right now. I look at it all the time. Luv the design ideas. I started looking at it when I started looking to buy a house 3 years ago. I've been hooked ever since.

JG

[jhain]

21. no such thing as a coincidence

I JUST surfed all over their website for a gardening fix-still way too cold here to do it outside or garden outside....
then came to check out DU and fond this thread.

yes, they are doing good things.it is refreshing

[rox63]

23. I love watching HGTV!

I got addicted to HGTV about a year ago. When I just can't take any more bad news, I switch on their decorating and renovation shows. And I love how they treat gays and lesbians and interracial families just like everyone else. It doesn't matter if it's John & Marcia or John & Martin that want to redo their kitchen. That's the way it should be, just no big deal. I'm actually suprised the right-wingnuts haven't flown off the handle because of it. Maybe they're too busy vilifying cartoon characters to notice.

:D :yourock: :loveya:

[Calvinist Basset]

24. I'm a man . . .

and I LOVE HGTV! As well as many of the other EW Scripps networks. But you're right that men may not watch these shows as much as women. I have to be careful who I admit to that I watch HGTV--in this narrow-minded corner of the world, that can be a confession that leads to a concussion.

[KittyWampus]

25. I mainly watch HGTV and Food since Nov 2nd. Nourishing & Productive

[RedCappedBandit]

26. I've noticed the same

Also on the Discovery channel during daytime hours..

[car54whereareyou]

27. HGTV

I started watching in it in '97. It was an oasis for me after the 2000 election, and of course, this one. It really fosters creativity, as do the other networks they have developed. However, a few of their shows are a real downer because they glorify materialism to the max.

[KT2000]

28. Always a happy ending

the shows start with a problem and three minutes before it is over we see an attractive solution - or there are times when you say - oh my god - that's awful, which can be fun too.

Who likes Candace Olsen and her pot lights?? She usually does a nice job but Debbie Travis has gone over the edge lately - neopolitan ice cream colors for ceiling tiles??

[progressivebydesign]

29. I only watch HGTV and Food Channel...

I LOVE HGTV because the people on there are diverse in color and orientation. The design industry has always embraced all people, and it's reflected in the programming. The thing that scares me about HGTV lately, is that they're replacing a lot of good shows, with shows featuring model-thin chicks doing cheap design projects for other model thin (and 20-something) clients. It's a trend that may spell the end of the diversity on that channel, and a signal that they're falling under the corporate bullshit soda-money spell. It's good watching most of the time, and people don't seem to mind the diversity.

[TexasSissy]

32. Interesting that you would hold it against someone

that she is white and wants to re-design a bedroom for her supposedly white grandchild. Very interesting.

Progressive means accepting of anyone, right? Even if s/he is white and wealthy? And of course, being white does not mean being wealthy, just as being ethnic does not mean you are poor.

White grandmas need design advice, too.

[newyawker99]

33. I watch HGTV almost the entire day. I love it.

:-)

[Walt Starr]

34. I've given up on television news. I watch DIY And HGTV mostly

Some History, but mostly HGTV and DIY.