I don’t think anyone expected the summer 2025 TV schedule to become an HGTV cancellation bloodbath, but here we are. The network that’s known for making stars by launching shows like Flip or Flop with Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa, Home Town with Ben and Erin Napier and Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines has recently canceled seven of its popular home renovation series. Now, though, we’re hearing that the channel has two major reasons for all the cuts.
What Are Insiders Saying About Why HGTV Has Canceled So Many Shows?
While the spring and summer months always bring about cancellations, I doubt that most people expected the 2025 canceled shows list to include quite so many home renovation series from HGTV. The cuts have been coming along at a fast and furious clip since late June, and have included series from previously mentioned stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa.
According to Deadline, the reasons for all the cuts can basically be traced back to two issues that producers on all the reno shows have to deal with. As one insider said:
Home reno shows are expensive because all of the materials are jacked up and on delay, the price of wood and marble and everything else is going up so these shows don’t make as much sense anymore.
As everyone who buys things will know, prices on pretty much everything have gone through the roof over the past several years. This is also the case with already costly items like building materials and home decor products, which has made producing renovation series much more expensive. Add that to the “delay” that’s being experienced because of supply shortages/shipping backlogs (which also increase prices) and it’s a massive one-two punch of budget concerns and increased production timelines.
Along with Christina on the Coast and The Flipping El Moussas being sent to that massive TV graveyard, one of my favorites also got the ax, Bargain Block. Other series to get the bad news are Jonathan Knight’s Farmhouse Fixer, the one-season show Izzy Does It, Battle on the Beach (star Alison Victoria said she thinks editing cost that show a renewal), and Married to Real Estate (hosts Egypt Sherrod and Mike Jackson returned from vacation to the unfortunate news).
A producer who works on such series for HGTV opened up about budgetary and supply problems that have plagued the genre lately, and noted that “stuff wouldn’t arrive on time” when they were already “depending on contractors” and had to deal with the possibility of not being able to “come in on budget” for shows that always have “really strict budgets.” They added:
Some of our episodes took 16 weeks to shoot; it’s more labor intensive than doing a real estate show.
Apparently, real estate shows (like House Hunters) are also cheaper, costing from $200,000 to $300,000 per episode, as compared with up to $500,000 for reno shows, so it would seem like those behind the channel have decided to tighten the purse strings by lopping some renovation branches off of their tree.
HGTV is also down to about half the viewers it had back in 2017 (with heavy losses among the 18-49 key demo) and I suppose something had to change. It’s just bumming me out that we had to lose such entertaining and inspirational series in the process.
