http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080313/news_1c13tvm.html
Real estate may have cooled considerably as an investment, but not real estate television.
House flipping and home renovation programs are still big hits on cable. While “for sale” signs sprout on lawns across the country, TV programmers are like developers who plow ahead with new housing projects anyway.
A new season of the A&E Network’s “Flip This House” – one of a troika with TLC’s “Flip That House” and Bravo’s “Flipping Out” – premieres Saturday night.
A&E has several new programs in development. At least six new ones are beginning on TLC in the next year, starting with “Date My House,” where former “Bachelor” Bob Guiney hosts a program where potential buyers spend a night in a home on the market.
HGTV had its highest prime-time ratings ever in January. Nine of its top 10 series deal with the housing market, including “House Hunters,” “My First Place,” “Hidden Potential,” “Buy Me” and “Design to Sell.” The network did a special Feb. 29 theme day of “taking the big leap,” or investing in that first house.
“What’s driving interest right now is that people are worried about it – ‘What’s the value of my home? How can I increase interest in my home?’ ” said Jim Samples, HGTV president. “And then there’s the ‘life goes on’ factor. People are still changing jobs, families are still getting bigger. If anything, they tend to nest in this environment.”