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Home reno superstars Chip and Joanna Gaines are giving Discovery-owned DIY a makeover of its very own. The couple, under their Magnolia brand, is converting DIY into their own network scheduled to be unveiled next summer. The venture entails a linear network, a subscription streaming service and a video-on-demand service, with the latter two components to debut later.
The Gaines will be chief creative officers and current HGTV President Allison Page will be president.
“Chip and Joanna Gaines have become trusted, household names since the debut of Fixer Upper and through this joint venture, Discovery is proud to extend our relationship with them,” said David Zaslav, CEO, Discovery, in a statement. “They’ve got authenticity and relatability, that special something that is so difficult in our business to find. People love them, their taste, their businesses – they’ve built an ecosystem that aligns perfectly with our vision at Discovery for fueling people’s passions.”
“Our intention with this network is to create and curate content that inspires, encourages, and helps to build bridges across our communities. We want honest, authentic programming that brings families together,” said Chip and Joanna Gaines in a joint statement.
The Waco, Texas-based Gaines came to fame with their show Fixer Upper, which premiered on Scripps’ HGTV in 2014 and was one of that network’s highest-rated series over its four-year run. The Gaines announced in 2017 that they were ending the hit show, although it quickly became clear that they intended to launch their own network. Discovery closed on its acquisition of Scripps last March and by virtue of that deal, now owns HGTV, Food Network, DIY and other Scripps assets.
Besides shows on home, design, garden, food, wellness and community, the yet-to-be-named network also will be home to all episodes of Fixer Upper.
The announcement came on the eve of Discovery’s upfront on Wednesday, which included Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Animal Planet, MotorTrend, Travel Channel and Science Channel.
“Since introducing the new Discovery here one year ago, we have made fantastic strides in our mission to fuel people’s passions in the U.S. and around the world,” said Zaslav. “We believe the future of media centers around brands that consumers trust and can’t live without, and we have created a portfolio that drives value for clients, provides the broadest appeal across generations, and nourishes superfans on every screen.”
Discovery
Discovery Channel is in its fourth straight year as cable’s top network for men 25-54, excluding sports. It hopes to continue that streak with new natural history programs such as Wildlife Warriors, Perfect Planet, Mysterious Planet, Serengeti, Legends of the Wild and Rob Riggle: Global Investigator.
HGTV
Conversely, HGTV is cable’s top network for upscale women and the number-two cable network for women in total day viewing year to date. On its slate are My House is Your House, premiering April 2019; Say Yes to the Nest, premiering Monday, May 13; City vs. Burbs, premiering in May; Christina on the Coast, starring Flip or Flop star Christina Anstead and debuting Thursday, May 23; Property Brothers: Forever Home, premiering Wednesday, May 29; and Unspouse My House on Thursday, June 6.
HGTV on July 6 also is launching a Saturday night poolside block, composed of four shows: Supersize My Pool, starring Mario Lopez; Pools Off the Deep End; Pool Hunters and Pool Kings.
Food Network
Food Network finished last year up 9% in ratings for women, ranking fourth among women in total day viewing. New to the network are Bake You Rich, premiering Sunday, April 14; Duff Takes the Cake, premiering Monday, April 15; and Good Eats starring Alton Brown and BBQ Brawl: Flay v. Symon in the third quarter.
Over the holiday season, the network will air Holiday Wars in which master are and sugar artists face off in challenges to create extravagant holiday displays.
TLC
TLC focuses on real-life stories that appeal to female audiences, and year-to-date the network is second among women in primetime. Big successes for TLC over the past year have been 90 Day Fiancé, Dr. Pimple Popper, the revival of Trading Spaces and I Am Jazz about transgender teen Jazz.
Hoping to maintain and build on that audience, TLC is reviving more old favorites, such as What Not to Wear and Say Yes to the Dress, both in 2020.
Investigation Discovery
Cable’s fastest-growing network among women 25-54, Investigation Discovery, is number-one in that demo and second among adults 25-54 in total day viewing.
Upcoming on ID is Valley of the Damned on Sept. 3; The Whole Truth with Sunny Hostin and The Interrogator in the fourth quarter; and Twisted Love from executive producers Khloé Kardashian and Red Arrow’s 44 Blue Productions, and The Lost Boys of Bucks County, both in early 2020.
OWN
OWN, created by Oprah Winfrey, is cable’s top destination for African-American women and in 2018, boasted five of the top 20 original scripted series on ad-supported cable among women 25-54.
Coming to OWN are David Makes Man this summer, along with new episodes of Iyanla: Fix My Life and Married Life. Later this year, the network will debut Will Packer Media’s Ambitions, the fourth seasons of Queen Sugar and Greenleaf; and the sixth season of Tyler Perry’s The Have and the Have Nots.
TLC, MotorTrend, Travel Channel, Science Channel and Cooking Channel
New wildlife programs such as Jeremy Wade’s Dark Waters, Fish or Die and The Aquarium are all coming to TLC this spring. MotorTrend, rebranded last year from Velocity, continues to rev its engines with such series as Top Gear, Bitchin’ Rides, Wheeler Dealers and Roadkill.
Travel Channel had the most successful year in its history in 2018 with ratings up 15% year over year. New series coming to the growing channel include Code of the Wild, Relic Hunter, Shadows of History with Robert Englund, Witches of Salem, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and Ghost Nation.
Science Channel ended the first quarter of 2019 tied with its highest-rated quarter of all time. It hopes to continue that trend with shows such as Uncharged, Apollo: The Forgotten Films and Legends of the Deep.
Finally, Cooking Channel scored its highest-rated quarter ever in first quarter 2019 and will continue to serve up shows such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Food Truck Nation and Man v. Food.
Tags: animal planet chip gaines discovery investigation discovery joanna gaines tlc