HGTV

HGTV
HGTV logo
Launched	December 1, 1994
Owned by	Scripps Networks Interactive
Picture format	1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV/16:9 letterbox)
Slogan	Start At Home
Country	United States
Language	English
Headquarters	Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Formerly called	Home, Lawn, and Garden Channel
Sister channel(s)	Cooking Channel DIY Network Food Network Great American Country Travel Channel
Website	HGTV.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	229 (HD/SD) 1229 (VOD)
Dish Network	112 (HD/SD) 9461 (HD)
C-Band – H2H/4DTV	AMC 18 – Channel 206(East)/207(West)
Cable
AT&T	1450 (HD) 450 (SD)
Verizon FiOS	665 (HD) 165 (SD)

HGTV (also referred to as Home & Garden Television), is a cable-television channel operating in the United States and Canada, broadcasting a variety of how-to shows with a focus on home-and-garden improvement, maintenance, renovation, craft and remodeling. It also operates the HGTV.com website.

Like its sister channels (the Cooking Channel, the DIY Network, the Food Network, Great American Country and the Travel Channel), the channel belongs to Scripps Networks Interactive, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. The channel sponsors the annual HGTV Dream Home giveaway.

History

Kenneth W. Lowe (then a radio executive with The E.W. Scripps Company and subsequently the chief executive officer 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, as the base and production hub of the new network.

Cinetel became Scripps Productions, but producing more than thirty 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 Vice President of Programming, set the tone and oversaw the production of the early series. About ninety percent of the channel was original at launch, with ten percent licensed and re-run from Canadian, PBS, and other sources.

Using local Scripps cable franchises (since divested), the U.S. Federal Communications Commission "must carry" provisions of Scripps medium-market television stations and other small television operators to gain cable carriage, the channel 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.

A variation of the logo used from December 1, 1994 to March 1, 2010

During its development, the channel was the Home, Lawn, and Garden Channel. The name was later shortened and a logo developed. The logo was amended in 2010, with this version debuting on March 1 of that year. The square with "G" in it is gone, the roof is larger and the "HGTV" letters are now set in Gotham Black, with the other Gotham fonts being used around the network. 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. It is now referred to simply as "HGTV", the full name of the channel is de-emphasized.

In July 2008, E.W. Scripps spun off the channel and the other Scripps cable channels and web-based properties into a separate company, Scripps Networks Interactive; E.W. Scripps broadcast television and newspaper properties remain in the original company.

In December 2011, the channel began broadcasting all of its programming in 16:9 aspect-ratio (or letterbox) format on its standard-definition (SD) channel. There are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen; its high-definition (HD) channel covers the entire screen.

HGTV HD

HGTV HD, a 1080i HD channel, originally did not simulcast its parent channel, but featured programming separate from HGTV.

On March 31, 2008, HGTV, along with the Food Network, launched its HD simulcast of its SD feed. SD programs on the HD feed are stretched to fill the screen rather than presented in their original 4:3 aspect ratio.^{[citation needed]}

Carriage disputes

Cablevision

On December 31, 2009, Scripps removed the Food Network and HGTV from Cablevision, a cable-television provider serving the Greater New York City metropolitan area, on the day that their contract was set to expire. After months of negotiations, a consensus between Scripps and Cablevision was not reached, prompting the removal of the two channels.

On January 21, 2010, Cablevision and Scripps reached a deal and the channels were aired once again on the same day and by the next day in other areas.

AT&T U-verse

On November 5, 2010, AT&T U-verse dropped the DIY Network, the Cooking Channel, the Food Network, Great American Country and HGTV, due to a carriage dispute. On November 7, 2010, the carriage dispute was resolved.

Controversy

On June 13, 2012 HGTV conceded that House Hunters scenes are mostly recreations of prior events. In many cases, the final decision and purchase were made prior to filming. In some cases, homes visited were not even on the market. At best, this is "faux-reality".^{[citation needed]}

Canada

In 1997, a Canadian version of HGTV launched. It is a joint venture between Canadian company Canwest and Scripps Networks.

Awards

Dixon Awards-Best TV Channel 2012-Won

See also

• List of United States cable and satellite television networks
• Orphan initialism

External links

• Official website