Now, they've even cancelled Gardening By The Yard with Paul James (he was too old!?). What are they thinking?
According to a producer, gardening doesn't sell, but 'landscaping' does. Hmmm, gardeners' don't count to them, only landscape/design/real estate/30-minute-makeover shows do.
Obviously, emails to HGTV don't get anyone anywhere, as you could see by doing a search on GW itself or google. You get a lousy form letter in response.

BUT,
I happen to have an email addy for a higher-up at Scripps Networks (parent of HGTV) and a list (granted, pretty short so far) of companies that are advertising through them on HGTV and their contact links.

So, if we all hit them where it hurts the most - their advertisers - and email them stating that we've noticed them advertising on HGTV and in protest of the channel cancelling real gardening programs from their lineup, we, as well as our family and friends, will not be purchasing their products or patronizing their stores, do you think we could finally make some sort of impact?

We'd all have to do it as a group on a certain day though, or it wouldn't work (maybe a couple weeks from now?). I thought of just doing it myself, but, well . . . what good is one person going to do?

Do you think something like that would finally, finally get their attention? How many of you would really be willing to do something like this?

What about contacting the network directly with 100 or so e-mails to protest the lack of gardening programs?

ellen

I still watch Victory Garden on PBS.

There may be some Online petitions out there
or many people just make them.

The Petition Site and Cares 2 ?

Mary

I know they did one of those petitions for Alex Anderson's quilt show, but it didn't work.

I agree, going to take much more than a 100 or so emails, but if we slam Scripps and the advertisers all in one day, maybe they'll get that we're serious?
Anyone know a good way to get the word spread?
How about April 13 for a date? Enough time? Someone got a better date?

I get up early on Sunday mornings (one of the two days a week I can sleep in) just to watch that show. I guess I'll have to start watching the public broadcasting shows more now because of this.

HGTV has truly forgotten about a very important part of their customer base. I'm truly shocked in light of the current economic situation that they would cancel an existing gardening show that could teach people about growing vegetables and herbs that could save on their grocery costs. No tot mention the fact that our society destroys more and more of ma nature every moment of the day. Why not at least keep one show that can teach people about gardening and the need for us to nurture ma nature the same way she nurtures us?!?!

I think I may just block that channel so no one in my home can intentially or accidently give them any attention.

By the way, thank you very much for pointing this out to all of us! It's much appreciated!
Diana

*falls into the deepest depth of despair*

If that's the case, I have NO reason to watch.

Karen

So... what they are doing is this... as the media coverage of gardening topics is increasing, seed sales are up more than 25% over last year, there's brand new garden on the White House lawn to inspire others to garden... yet all the best gardening shows are being cancelled?? What a way to run a tv station!

A really good point, that I think we should include in whatever we do.

For example, at the Community Garden where I garden, after years of having half the plots empty, we have so many applicants we can't satisfy all of them. All related to the economic downturn.

I wonder if James would have been cancelled if he wasn't one to advocate natural solutions. Would he have been cancelled if he was a big pusher of pesticides and herbicides?

I think letters to newspaper to get the word out are also important, and a copy to the station.

Publicity gets their attention.

ellen

Include this too.
Also the idea of contacting other garden forums here at GW and elsewhere - that's a lot of people.

Could you tell me where it came from that he is "too old"?
Geez, what is he all of of 40?!

And what is he too old for?

ellen
61 and not too old to take on HGTV

[not to hijack this important thread, but to add fuel. :)]

Perhaps they think we need a few more episodes of "Groundbreakers" aka - how to spend a million dollars paving over your yard. >:+(

Don't know anything about facebook, ask your kids no matter how young or old they may be they will know.

Oh did i mention myspace....

HGTV Ups James to Senior VP, Program Development & Production
By Christopher Perez

Freddy P. James has been named HGTV’s senior VP of program development and production. Mr. James previously was the network’s VP and Web site director for HGTV.com.

Jillian St. Charles, site director at FineLiving.com, will step into James’ previous position, effective immediately. Both will be based in the company’s Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters.

Mr. James first joined the cable network in 1996. After stints at DIY Network and Scripps Productions, where he produced special programming for the Food Network, Mr. James returned to HGTV earlier this year to head the network’s Web site operation.

"Freddy James has the right combination of experience, proven successes, creativity, fresh perspective and energy that HGTV will need to expand its programming portfolio," said HGTV President Jim Samples. "He is the right person to lead the programming team and spearhead development of innovative programming concepts for HGTV."

Mr. James will work with Mr. Samples to provide strategic and creative direction for HGTV’s content, including identifying new opportunities and genres, and supervising the development and production of new series and specials.

Ms. St. Charles will report to Jody Jones, senior VP, SN Digital, and will manage the user content experience on HGTV.com.

_____________________________

Be sure and look at the responses this article got! Apparently, we aren't the only ones pissed off!!

You are all welcome to paste the link and/or spread the word any way you want to or see fit!

Susan Harris, of Garden Rant fame, has given her total support.
Oh, and she has received official word from Paul's PR guy that Gardening By The Yard has definitely been cancelled.

So, anything anyone wants to do on their own to get this moving - go for it!

Paul James' Home Grown Cooking

Master gardener Paul James shows you how to bring the garden to the kitchen table! Each episode includes segments on growing and cooking produce from the garden, as well as information about finding and choosing fresh supermarket produce. James also includes a dash of historical and nutritional information about the food he makes. There's nothing better than Paul James' Home Grown Cooking!

For more great food and cooking shows, visit our sister network, The Food Network, at www.FoodNetwork.com.

I need to find out if we even have DIY!

No matter how much complaining we do, it looks like Paul James won't be back with new shows for HGTV. Maybe if we switch the tactic and go to DIY asking for more gardening shows it might work just as well?

The point of the whole thing is that all those channels DIY/HGTV/FLN/Food Network/GAC are all owned by Scripps Networks.

The individual channel programming people are the ones that really don't care what we want to watch. Emailing each channel individually results in a form letter reply. But, they have bosses (Scripps Networks). The only people who are going to listen to a complaint of any kind are the head honchos at the parent network and their advertisers. That's who we need to target and I'm trying!

Kenneth Lowe CEO
Scripps Networks
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Here are some more folks who would LOVE to hear from us!

Executive Committee

John Lansing, President
Scripps Networks
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Committee Members

Bob Baskerville
President
Scripps Emerging Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Jim Clayton
Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Lynne Costantini
Executive Vice President, Affiliate Sales & Marketing
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Ron Feinbaum
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Steve Gigliotti
Executive Vice President, Ad Sales & Emerging Media
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Mark Hale
Executive Vice President of Operations
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Burton Jablin
Executive Vice President
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Jim Samples
President
HGTV,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Jim Clayton
Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Lynne Costantini
Executive Vice President, Affiliate Sales & Marketing
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Ron Feinbaum
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Steve Gigliotti
Executive Vice President, Ad Sales & Emerging Media
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Mark Hale
Executive Vice President of Operations
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Burton Jablin
Executive Vice President
Scripps Networks,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

Jim Samples
President
HGTV,
9721 Sherrill Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37932

But I only have one email for the SVP of communications. They're all pretty good at flying under the radar as far as ther emails go. How many people are really going to write a letter? Tis the age of internet.
~sigh~

I'd so love to be a fly on the wall when those suits start getting calls from their advertisers asking what the *&^& is going on with a boycott of their products because HGTV won't listen to its viewers. lol.
;)

Mary

Now there are truly no decent national gardening shows.

count me in on the 13th Just let me know who to email.

Canadian Gardener (on CBC used to be the best)

Victory Garden does too many "Classics" without Roger Swain or Crocket (I think I just outed myself as an old fart too). I don't need to see Tuscan Mansions where they can't even be bothered to identify a plant while zooming past it.

~Chills

HGTV used to be my favorite channel, now I very, very rarely turn it on. Maybe a handful of time s a year. But I am approaching mid 50's so they probably could care less!!
I hadn't realized how I no longer watch any gardening shows anymore as they have disappeared over the years. I liked Rebbecca too. They had her on at some awful hour very early in the morning here when I watched her show.

Let our voices be heard even if it doesn't save Paul or the "G" in HGTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say that I was wondering what was going on recently-all winter you hope to find a gardening show to watch so that you can hope for spring and not have to deal with the white stuff much longer. Those shows were what got me interested in gardening as I am sure it is the same for some of you. It would be interesting to know what consumer polls were taken (or not)for SH to make such a decision.
I have been starving for education and certainly not finding much of anything including PBS.
I can say with much certainty that I will gain alot of new knowledge here but will miss Paul James and the others that have disappeared on HGTV.
Will continue to lurk here and plan on joining all of you on April 13th

I am going to search for Erica Glasener and add to my TiVo.

I looked through my guide and saw no gardening shows, all landscaping and houses. I used to like the landscaping ones but since I never have a problem with landscaping they get boring.

Karen

~Wendy

Doesn't anyone else have a DVR or VCR even to record it so early Sunday and then watch at their leisure?

I hope I am not the reason it is being canceled, as I skip over the commercials on the DVR for 21-22 minutes of pure garden goodness. I never even see the advertisements at all, except maybe a few seconds here and there. What they should do is give Paul products advertised and show him using them instead.. like a bag of Miracle Gro being plainly obvious as Paul shares his garden wisdom, etc.

For those fortunate enough to be able located in an area of the County that can receive digital broadcast signals, you will save yourself a heap of money by simply canceling pay service and using the free over the air broadcast feeds. Digital and HDTV broadcasts are crystal clear and without you having to deal with the problems of the old analog reception problems of the past. Granted you don't get specialized channels like HGTV, but the way things are going, who wants them anyway? You ready should spend your time doing other things rather than watching the boob-tube anyway. Read a gardening book, talk to your family member, get out and garden. You will be better off financially and it will remove an aggravation from your life.

I am in the demographic they are trying to "target" but they lost me on this one. Young people garden too. And Paul tought responsible gardening-not just "rip out" and "replace w/generic big box store plants". He tought how to garden sustainably, organically, etc. And he tought that not all parts of gardens are perfect.

This is a real shame. I'll join you on the the 13th.

http://www.hgtv.com/gardening-by-the-yard/show/index.html

Oh and I see some where up above that a poster referensed the Home Grown cooking show.. that is an old show from HGTV that they moved to DIY....
I have to say.. my viewing of HGTV is pretty much non exsitant these days because of their current programming.
Thanks for starting this revolt!!!
and yes I think once a week or month is well deserved for them to hear the crys of once loyal viewers that seem to have fallen on deaf ears over the past 5 years!

If anyone has access to a news outlet, you might tip them off.

Also, you could send a copy of your letter to your local newspaper. Mention the blog that's been created.
(Thanks for that!)
This could snowball. Did someone mention Oprah? :)

ellen

Ellen, the NY Times is already watching. And so is Paul.
;)

In case anyone missed the PBS special The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, which premiered Wednesday, October 28, 2009, you can still watch the entire program online. It's incredible.

BOTANY OF DESIRE is a documentary which tells the utterly original story of everyday plants and the way they have domesticated humankind. An interpretation of the relationship between plants and people. This two-hour documentary explores plant evolution and takes viewers from the potato fields of Peru and Idaho, the apple forests of Kazakhstan, and the tulip markets of Amsterdam.

View online in it's entirety: here

This is another related program by the same presenter on LINK TV (a cable access channel) which is timely:

Deep Agriculture
Traditional methods of agriculture in most developed nations have long ignored environmental concerns. Factors such as soil erosion, water shortage and the impact of chemicals on bio-systems have been overlooked in favour of massive crop yields and cheaper food. But what impact does this have on our health and our environment?

View online in it's entirety: here

__________________________

Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and witness the evolution of an Organic Kitchen Garden.

HGTV is still airing ne Gardening By The Yard episodes.

Did the protest campaign work?

Did we save The Gardener Guy?

HGTV is still airing new Gardening By The Yard episodes.

Did the protest campaign work?

Did we save The Gardener Guy?