Jan 9, 2009

Missing The 'G' In HGTV?

gardening television shows on Create TVThis past September complaints that there were no gardening shows on the cable station HGTV were popular posts on garden blogs.  Over the past few years if you've spent any time on gardening forums or on garden blogs you may have come across this complaint. HGTV seems to have abandoned the 'G' from its name and is now mostly a station geared towards the home remodelers and decorators. 

On monday I bought and set up my TV Converter Box so that I could be prepared when stations across the country switch to providing a digital signal.  While setting it up I noticed that I was now recieving a few new stations I had not been getting before.  One of the stations is Create TV, an offering from American Public Television and the programing line-up is best described as "do-it-yourself." The four year old channel has been broadcasting nationally for the past three years and shows cover: cooking, arts & crafts, home improvement , travel and even gardening. 

My first experience with the channel involved a well done segment on bonsai on the show Cultivating Life hosted by Sean Conway. Other gardening shows include: Garden Smart with Joe Lamp’l and Eric Johnson, GardenStory: Inspiring Spaces, Healing Places hosted by Rebecca Frischkorn, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, Smart Gardening and the ever popular The Victory Garden.

If you watch television shows on the internet Hulu.com has a Home & Garden channel but the closest thing there to a gardening show is Desperate Landscapes but I have caught a few plant/nature related items in the news & information section. But at least with the roll out of digital signals gardners, like myself, who want their GTV or who think HGTV is a misnomer now have options available to them that they didn't have before. 
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7 comments:

  1. No, I haven't heard of this program channel, but I think what has happened to print media is on its way to happening to television too. We're changing to a choice economy where people can choose anything they want to listen to, watch or read. Thanks for the heads up and the link.~~Dee
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  2. I bought that box but haven't set it up. Now that I know that there is a station with gardening shows I'm going to set it up enjoy some gardening television.
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  3. I think all media is suffering from a paradigm shift and must adapt or become non-existent. I agree with Dee: "We're changing to a choice economy where people can choose anything they want to listen to, watch or read."
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  4. Hey! I followed the links and found that the ETV station here is our local public station, OETA.
    They DO have great programming.

    We Americans are so lucky to have such good qualtiy material available free.

    Thanks!
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  5. I was wondering why they removed gardening shows in HGTV since there were many followers. Well anyway, I guess I have to buy myself a TV converter box too so I can watch Create TV. Thanks for the post.
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  6. Dee & TC,

    I think you're both right. Lately I've been watching TV over the net most of the time and just pick and choose what I want. It is amazing how much time one person wastes surfing through the channels and you may not notice it until you change the tv viewing habits.

    Martha: Thanks for stopping by.

    FL Designer: They started catering to the "reality" type show viewer because there's more money to be made in serving them commercials than gardeners who have set ways of buying plants and gardening material. Well, that's my guess anyway.

    Thanks for the comments
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  7. You're not the only one who's noticed the missing G.
    Us gardeners are mad - check this out- http://hgtvprotestcampaign.blogspot.com/
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