HGTV Protest Campaign - April 13, 2009

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The Protest Campaign blog is HERE.


Gardeners' are mad as hell at HGTV, and they aren't going to take it anymore!

Viewer emails directly to HGTV result in nothing more than the reply of a form letter and are totally disregarded.



Gardening programming has been disappearing from the channel at an alarming rate. Actually, there isn't any left. But, all you fans of those lost garden shows already know this. Now, they've had the gall to cancel Gardening By The Yard with Paul James! Yes, they've cancelled Paul, the last denizen of the 'real' gardening shows.

Cancelling Paul was the last straw!

Look anywhere on the net and you can find statistics that show how the 'gardening and growing your own food' trend has gone through the roof. They've taken to calling them Recession Gardens. It doesn't matter if the available space is 50 acres or a small balcony and containers, people are doing it.


Every day hundreds of people are making the decision to start a garden, whether it be because of the economy, worry about the planet, better flavor, beauty, or simple food safety, they're hungry for information. And yet, HGTV seems to completely ignore these people and the facts.

What are they thinking?!

HGTV Has It ALL Wrong

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I think they're either insane, don't know what they're talking about, don't read news (or blogs for that matter) or are little tipsy for 20 hours of a 24 hour day. Seriously. And yes, even 'real news' is reporting how much HGTV sucks when it comes to that non-existant G.

I read this article, from November 20, 2008, from Joe Gardener called Keeping the “G” in HGTV – Why that’s not so E Z, to which he referred to another article he'd written, called Keep the “G” in HGTV” please!, to which a producer (Yes, a real HGTV producer) replied this:

“Gardening shows do not bring in the ratings. But, landscaping shows do. While not a lot of people "garden", they do landscape. Meaning while they might not be out there planting vegetable gardens they are renovating their yards. If they do garden it is to incorporate an herb garden or blueberry bushes into the landscape. And landscaping shows do bring in the ratings, especially if they have drama”.

Is she serious?! They don't bring in the ratings, you fool, because there AREN'T ANY TO WATCH!

Oh, my, God! No wonder they aren't listening.
Poor Paul James. They don't have a clue, and he doesn't have a prayer of getting anything through their thick skulls, along with the rest of us gardeners. Don't bother emailing as you'll only receive an automated return answer, as was proven when an email campaign went through GW. Yes, they so care about their viewers. (yeah, that'd be sarcasm).

So, to sum up what HGTV is really all about: Gardeners' (those that would actually return to watching the freaking channel and buying what those advertisers are spewing) count for nothing. Absolutely nada, zero, zip. We aren't even a tiny speck of dust on their revenue chart.

Aren't you glad the HGTV producers have such a grand grasp of reality? I sure am, as I wouldn't know what to do if I actually had a choice between more than two gardening shows! Oh, the dilemma that could cause in my, apparently, non-astute tv-watching- gardening day. . .

Well, my goodness, they have Live Chat! My, oh my. Who knew. This could be interesting.