Overview

• Since mid-June, HGTV has axed seven renovation-heavy series, from Bargain Block to Battle on the Beach, as part of a broad programming purge.
• The channel’s prime-time audience has nearly halved over eight years, dipping from 1.5 million viewers in 2017 to 773,000 last year, and its 18-49 audience is down 26 percent.
• Network insiders describe the cuts as financial “bloodletting” designed to address production costs that can reach $500,000 per renovation episode.
• Moving forward, the network is rolling out more economical real estate series that cost about $200,000–$300,000 per episode and are quicker to produce.
• Production schedules of marquee hosts have shifted, with The Property Brothers’ Chasing the West delayed to July 30 and other series slated for later this year.