For better or worse, HGTV is on at our house most days. I remember when we first watched the network, 20-plus years ago, and it looked nothing like it does today. (Does anything?)
I just finished* this article by Ian Parker in The New Yorker and enjoyed how he tells the story of a channel that “at first showed unadorned how-to shows” to one that’s now a top-five cable network.
There’s some good stuff in it about some of the shows’ hosts and how the network finds talent.
Spoiler:
The network premières twenty to thirty new series each year. High Noon, the production company, has a staff member whose sole job is to identify new talent, on social media and elsewhere.
*Truth be told, I listened to the article on The New Yorker’s website, exquistely read by Simon Vance. You might want to do the same.
Mike McClary 