In this age of "peak TV," when hundreds of intricate and high-quality shows must fight for survival, the success of a milquetoast show like House Hunters barely makes sense: The proudly formulaic HGTV series follows random homebuyers as they pat down laminate countertops, consider curb appeal and calmly discuss closet space.
But House Hunters remains one of the most unlikely and unstoppable juggernauts on TV. The show last year aired a staggering 447 new episodes -- far more than the typical 12-to-22-episode cable season -- 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' 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.
At 17 years old -- more than a lifetime in cable years -- House Hunters has defied TV gravity, and network executives liken its cost, simplicity and timelessness to their version of Wheel of Fortune or the nightly news. The franchise, which aired 26 episodes in 1999, has since exploded, airing an average of 406 episodes a year since the start of 2012.
The show's simple structure -- shoppers tour three potential houses, then decide on their favorite -- is brazenly paint-by-number. Terri Murray, the show's executive producer, called it "so formatted it's kind of a no-brainer" to make.
But the show's special blend of "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.
House Hunters' tidy storytelling may help explain why it thrived as America's broader housing economy collapsed. Viewership was strong during the housing bubble of the mid-2000s, when easy credit allowed pretty much everyone to buy a house. But the show really took off as mass foreclosures and the rise of renting dropped American homeownership to a 50-year low. The annual count of new House Hunters episodes tripled between the peak of the bubble, in 2005, and the Great Recession's official end, in 2009.
That 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 United States. 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.
The average episode is filmed in three days, and costs a small fraction of the $2 million to $4 million spent on the typical hour-long TV drama. The shows are edited to have few gaps between the end of one show and the start of the next, and episodes often run back-to-back in long stacks or marathons, designed to keep viewers glued to the TV for hours at a time.
Style on 01/31/2016