No one has been more swept up in the euphoria of the overheated housing market of the last few years than cable television networks.
First came "Property Ladder" and "Flip That House" on Discovery's TLC and "Flip This House" on the competing A&E Network. As home values soared, so did the number of real estate programs. TLC came up with "Real Estate Pros," and A&E later served up "Sell This House." Bravo jumped into the act this summer, introducing "Flipping Out."
But what happens to all of these house-flipping shows now that the real estate market seems to be tanking?
"The television equivalent of 'location, location, location' is 'timing, timing, timing,' " said TV historian Tim Brooks. "Now that the bust has come, now that the wave has passed, some of these shows might be in trouble."
Premiering in the last few years, just as the real estate market was in full froth, the shows zoomed their camera lenses in on the exploits of "flippers," giddy first-timers and some seasoned sharks. They followed people who bought and quickly remodeled rundown homes in North Hollywood, Highland Park and Charleston, S.C. Soon, the productions branched out into such other sizzling markets as Las Vegas, Atlanta and San Antonio.
"At first these stories were tales of easy money," said R.J. Cutler, founder and president of Actual Reality Pictures, which produces "Flip That House" for Discovery Communications Inc.'s the Learning Channel, or TLC. "If you got into the market, and provided a little blood, sweat and tears, then you were going to make some pretty big money."
The payoffs were enormous. The flippers frequently profited $200,000 or more from a single house. The shows, which are relatively cheap to produce, also allowed cable channels to cash in on the housing boom.
But unlike the real estate market, the bubble for these shows hasn't burst just yet.
"Flip This House" and "Flip That House," continue to be among the most popular shows on A&E and TLC, attracting such major advertisers as Home Depot, General Motors, MasterCard, Coca- Cola, Verizon, Aflac and Campbell's Soup.
TLC last year took in nearly $4 million in advertising revenue for commercial time on "Flip That House," a half-hour program, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, which tracks TV ad spending. That's a respectable haul for a weekend cable show.
