More Real Estate Shows To Be Aired In The Coming Months

Knoxville, TN (AHN) - The housing slump across America has fueled more real estate programs on television.

An indicator of this was the rise by 11 percent of the number of viewers for HGTV's real estate TV shows for the first quarter of 2008. The Tennessee-based Home and Garden TV production company produces around 80 realty-themed shows aired across the nation and overseas.

Nine of its top 10 programs are focused on the real estate market, with the number one "Property Virginia" registering 1.5 million viewers for the past few weeks since it premiered last fall. The show's target audience are first-time home buyers.

Encouraged by the positive response of televiewers, HGTV will launch more realty-oriented shows in the coming months. "Good Buy, Bad Buy?", which is a comparison-shopping program, starts to air June 30, while "The Stagers" will premier July 23. "The Stagers" will have design-selling experts on the show.

TLC, another independent television show producer, introduced "Date My House" which uses makeovers and sleepovers as marketing strategies for homeowners who need to sell their property immediately. TLC will soon air by summer "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" to guide thousands of cash-strapped homeowners decide what to do if they are behind mortgage payments.

Michael Dingley, programming chief of HGTV, explained to USA Today the popularity of real estate TV programs is linked with Americans' fixation on property values, citing the high viewership of its "My House is Worth What?", "House Hunters' and "House Hunters International."

Owning a unit, despite the current housing slump is still a dream for many Americans who channel their unfulfilled desires by tuning in to realty shows on TV. Andy Cohen, the production chief of Bravo, another production house, pointed out to USA Today, "Looking at big, beautiful houses is real estate porn." Bravo is aware of their wants by feeding on their desires with the appropriate TV show, Cohen said.