Magnolia’s ‘Fixer Upper: Welcome Home’ Smashes All DIY Network Ratings Records in Debut

Tony Maglio
·3 min read

DIY Network officially became Magnolia Network on Wednesday, Jan. 5, when co-owners Chip and Joanna Gaines’ “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home” series instantly shattered all of the existing cable channel’s TV ratings records.

Magnolia is a joint venture between the Gaineses and Discovery Inc., which used to be the sole owner of DIY Network. Together, Chip, Jo and Discovery launched Magnolia as a brand within streaming service Discovery+ (and almost as a standalone SVOD service). That was followed by the cable channel rebrand, which had been delayed a few times.

The first two episodes of the new “Fixer Upper,” one on Jan. 5 rebrand day and the other seven nights later, crushed the previous ratings record-holder from the DIY days, a 2013 episode of “Holmes Makes It Right.”

The Jan. 5 cable premiere of “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home” drew more than 1.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen’s Live + 3 Day measurement, a near-400% improvement over DIY’s 2021 primetime average. Those numbers made “Welcome Home” a Top 10 program on cable among adults (people 18+), and was No. 3 in its 9 p.m. time slot. (If you exclude the cable news channels, it was No. 1.)

Back in the day, the O.G. “Fixer Upper” was HGTV’s most-watched show. So the Gaineses are back in familiar territory.

Magnolia Network is off to a very good start — but the cable launch has not entirely been sunshine and shiplap. Less than one week after Magnolia Network yanked its just-launched renovation show “Home Work,” the home-improvement channel reversed course, saying the show will be back after making “the appropriate resolutions” with unhappy past clients of show hosts Andy and Candis Meredith.

The network initially pulled the show after several former clients complained on social media about unfinished house makeovers, shoddy work, budget overruns and extensive damage allegedly caused by the Utah-based contractor couple. However, Magnolia said its investigation found no “ill or malicious intent.”

“Magnolia Network is dedicated to sharing hopeful and genuine stories,” Magnolia Network president Allison Page said in a statement. “In doing that, we strive to meet people with compassion, and to cautiously approach difficult moments with honest understanding. After speaking with homeowners as well as Candis and Andy Meredith regarding renovation projects for ‘Home Work,’ and hearing a mix of both positive and negative experiences, we do not believe there was ill or malicious intent. Our commitment now is to provide appropriate resolutions for those whose experience with Home Work fell short of our network’s standards. While ‘Home Work’ will return to Magnolia Network, we recognize the responsibility we have to act on how we can better support not only our talent, but those who put their trust in them and this brand.”

The network has not announced a timeline for when the show will return, but individuals with knowledge of the situation tell TheWrap that it will likely be within the next several weeks.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Dow Jones Futures Fall As Meta Dives On Guidance; Chipotle Eyes Buy Point

    The rally attempt paused Wednesday as Nvidia reversed lower. Meta, Chipotle and ServiceNow led key earnings late.

  • Mark Ruffalo Says He Is Recognized ‘Way More’ for ’13 Going on 30′ Than for MCU’s Hulk

    "There’s two types of people in this world. There’s Hulk people, and there’s '13 Going on 30' people," the actor said celebrating the 2004 rom-com.

  • Revitalize T-Town provides free home repairs

    Revitalize T-Town provides free home repairs

  • New California rule aims to limit health care cost increases to 3% annually

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies in California will be limited to annual price increases of 3% starting in 2029 under a new rule state regulators approved Wednesday in the latest attempt to corral the ever-increasing costs of medical care in the United States. The money Californians spent on health care went up about 5.4% each year for the past two decades. Democrats who control California's government say that's too much, especially since most people's

  • Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations

    Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. It easily cleared the Republican-controlled Senate last April, but lawmakers eventually hit pause as the House became consumed with controversy over expelling two Black Democratic lawmakers for their participating in a pro-gun control protest from the House floor. Interest in the reparations bill emerged again this year, just as lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee were in the process of finalizing the removal and replacement of every board member of the state's only publicly-funded historically Black public university, Tennessee State University.

  • WWE releases rules for upcoming draft

    WWE has released the rules for this year's draft ahead of the first round on Friday's SmackDown.

  • UPDATE 1-Vale's net profit down 9% in the first quarter

    Vale, one of the largest iron ore producers in the world, posted a $1.7 billion net profit for the quarter ended in March, while analysts polled by LSEG were expecting a $1.9 billion profit. The main impact on Vale's net profit when compared to the first quarter of last year came from lower realized prices of iron ore, nickel and copper, according to the company earnings release. Vale had already disclosed first-quarter output and sales figures last week.

  • Australia and New Zealand honor their war dead with dawn services on Anzac Day

    Hundreds of thousands of people gathered under a full moon across Australia and New Zealand for dawn services Thursday to commemorate their war dead on Anzac Day, as tensions mount in U.S.-China rivalry in the region. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attended a service in his country’s largest city Auckland, while Australian Prime Minister Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saw the sun rise at a World War II memorial in the wilds of Australia’s nearest neighbor, Papua New Guinea.

  • Investigation underway after person shows up to OKC hospital with gunshot wound

    Investigation underway after person shows up to OKC hospital with gunshot wound

  • Billionaire investor Howard Marks says AI's impact doesn't make it immune to a crash

    "Every bubble starts from widespread conviction," Howard Marks told CNBC, saying that its hard to determine the winners of the AI wave.

  • Think Olivia is a popular baby name? Hold my beer, says Jennifer, and Jenny, and Jen

    If you're a parent and think your child's daycare is overstuffed with Olivias, Noahs and Olivers, please spare a thought for the moms and dads of the 1980s.Back then, you couldn't throw an alphabet block without hitting a Jennifer or a Michael.This week, as the Alberta government released the latest rankings of baby names given last year, CBC Calgary looked over a database of popular (and not-so-popular) baby names going back more than four decades, compiled by the province's vital statistics un

  • FAU softball team seeking 1st regional appearance since 2016

    The FAU Owls softball team holds the top spot in the conference, and is looking to close out the regular season with the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

  • Tupac Shakur's Estate Gives Drake 24 Hours To Remove 'Taylor Made Freestyle'

    The song, a diss track directed at Kendrick Lamar, appeared to use artificial intelligence to simulate the voices of two West Coast hip-hop legends, Tupac and Snoop Dogg.

  • Arizona grand jury indicts 11 Republicans who falsely declared Trump won the state in 2020

    PHOENIX (AP) — Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.” The eleven people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claimed Trump ha

  • Colorado lawmakers consider bill to regulate artificial intelligence

    Colorado state lawmakers are considering a proposal aimed at protecting consumers from artificial intelligence (AI).

  • Mets vs. Giants Highlights

    Francisco Lindor and the Mets take on Matt Chapman and the Giants on April 24, 2024

  • Vendors at Cleveland's historic West Side Market are embracing this change

    After 112 years as a Cleveland landmark, the historic West Side Market is embracing a new way of doing things. Wednesday marked the first official day of a nonprofit running day-to-day operations.

  • Accident Video on ‘The Pickup’ Set Shows Vehicles Flipping Over

    OSHA has opened an investigation into the incident on the Eddie Murphy film set and one person remains hospitalized, according to the NYT.

  • Trout becomes 1st in majors to reach 10 home runs, but Orioles hold off Angels 6-5

    ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Gunnar Henderson continued his hot streak at the plate with three hits and three RBIs and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 on Wednesday despite Mike Trout becoming the first player in the majors to reach 10 home runs this season. Batting leadoff for the second straight day, Trout got the Angels on the board with a solo shot down the left-field line off Dean Kremer (1-2) in the sixth. It's the third time in the past seven seasons Trout has been the

  • Police release pictures of man believed to have witnessed February homicide in northwest OKC

    Police release pictures of man believed to have witnessed February homicide in northwest OKC