Property TV channel launches
A new TV channel will aim to build on the popularity of Grand Designs and Property Ladder next month - by broadcasting wall-to-wall property shows.
Real Estate TV is the brainchild of former BSkyB creative director Bruce Dunlop and Mark Dodd. It will air 15 hours of property programming a day including Channel 4 hit Location, Location, Location.
Mr Dodd said the station would position itself as an entertainment-led "trusted guide" for prospective buyers. He dismissed concern about the current state of the housing market.
"It is a very opportune moment to launch a property channel," he said. "The market may not be as buoyant as it was, but that means there are lots of issues which consumers are considering before buying, and we can help them with those questions. For potential advertisers the time to market houses is when they are not selling like hot cakes. That time is now."
The channel will broadcast several original programme strands including The Next Big Thing, focusing on potential property boom areas, and Make That Move, offering advice on buying and selling a property. As well as the UK, it will look at property and places to buy abroad.
"The appetite for property programming has gone through several stages," said Mr Dodd. "It started with Changing Rooms, then to shows which got people thinking, and now to thinking about owning a second home not just in the UK but overseas. Most people are now sitting on equity which will enable them to buy an awful lot overseas."
The channel, which launches on Sky Digital on October 18, will air 18 hours a day and will include advertising and property "infomercials".
Mr Dodd, managing director of Real Estate TV, previously oversaw the branding and marketing of Flextech's wholly owned TV channels including Living TV. A Flextech management board member, he left in 2002.
The channel will be based at the London headquarters of Bruce Dunlop & Associates, whose media clients include ITV, BSkyB, Hallmark and Discovery. Another property channel, The Move, launched on Sky Digital last month.
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