House Hunters, TV’s comfort food
Producers spend next to nothing on stars or storylines. So, how did House Hunters become such a sensation?
|||Washington - The success of a show like House Hunters barely makes sense: the proudly formulaic HGTV series follows random homebuyers as they pat down laminate countertops and calmly discuss cupboard space.
But to the astonishment of rival networks, House Hunters remains one of the most unlikely and unstoppable juggernauts on TV. The show last year aired a staggering 447 new episodes, and helped HGTV become one of the most-watched cable networks in America.
House Hunters serves as a fascinating counter-example to some of the TV business’s biggest anxieties, including the growing costs and competition of scripted dramas and the rise of ‘cord-cutters’ moving their viewing online.
House Hunters producers spend next to nothing on stars or storylines, do little to groom an internet audience - and still consistently attract 25 million viewers every month.
“It’s happy television. It’s so safe. It’s like an old sweater,” says Terri Murray, the executive producer of the show.”You can walk away from it because the storyline is so simple, the structure is so repetitive, that you can come back and already know what’s missing.”
It is 17 years old, more than a lifetime in TV years. The franchise, which aired 26 episodes in 1999, has since exploded, airing an average of 406 episodes a year since the start of 2012.
Its simple structure - shoppers tour three potential homes, then decide on their favourite - is brazenly paint-by-number. But its “property voyeurism”, as network executives call it, has allowed for the creation of about 20 specials and spin-offs, including Tiny House Hunters, House Hunters Off the Grid and Houseboat Hunters. Tweaks to the formula have been minimal and rare.
So what keeps viewers so thoroughly addicted? It has game elements; it’s family-friendly; and it features random strangers virtually guaranteed to charm, surprise or annoy. Allison Page, the general manager of HGTV at Scripps Networks Interactive, the media giant that also owns the Food Network, calls it TV “comfort food”: an easy way to enjoy the otherwise baffling and convoluted business of buying a home.
“It boils down to what is a stressful and dramatic experience in real life,” Page said, “to a satisfying, entertaining half-hour of television with a guaranteed resolution, every night.”
Its booming growth has forced producers to build an unprecedented show-making machine. There are never fewer than 15 camera crews out shooting a new episode at any given time across the US. Another 25 teams of directors, camera chiefs, sound technicians and local fixers span the world for the show’s globe-trotting spin-off, House Hunters International.
House Hunters International is shown on the Travel Channel, DSTV Channel 179, on Fridays at 1pm
Washington Post