When HGTV decided to cease production of my show, I wasn't at all surprised. The writing had been on the wall for some time. In the beginning, my show aired in prime time, then it was moved to weekends only, then it was moved to the wee hours of the morning on Satuday and Sunday, and it's now on at the crack of dawn on Sunday only. Along the way, my ratings began to slide, in part because it seems fewer and fewer gardeners actually took the time to watch television, although I can't help wondering whether the lousy time slots had something to do with the ratings issue as well.
When I got word my contract wouldn't be renewed, I pretty much decided that my television career was over. However, my business manager insisted that I should explore the possibility of taking my show (or an entirely new show) to another network. After all, I had a loyal and sizeable following of deeply commited and sometimes fanatical fans. So he contacted virtually every cable network to gauge their interest, and the response was unanimous: Not one of them was interested. In fact, one of the networks to whom we pitched a new show idea said our proposal was brilliant. They then asked if we had anything along the lines of "Amazing Race!"
I still believe there's a market for good-old "How-To" programming. That's why I launched GGTV as part of my website, wherein I present gardening tips that I believe can be of benefit to all gardeners, regardless of their level of expertise. It cost a fair amount of money to produce the webisodes, but my hope is that as the website grows in popularity, advertising revenue will offset those costs.
So spread the word. Tell your friends and fellow gardeners to go to www.gardenerguy.com. And as allows, let me know what you think.
Peace,
Paul