The Gaines’ Magnolia Network Launches Jan. 5, 2022

First came the Fixer Uppers. Then the store, then branded products, then more stores, then a magazine, then more TV shows, books, Target TGT and most recently a streaming service.

Now comes an entire cable TV network…finally.

The Magnolia Network debuts next week on January 5, Covid-crushed two years late but at last the personification of everything Chip and Joanna Gaines, America’s favorite home remodeling and decorating duo.

“TV that feels like home” is how the Gaines described their latest media venture in emails to their fans this morning, a few days after announcements of the launch broke on assorted Discovery Network DISCA platforms. Discovery is rebranding its DIY Network, one of its stable of home-oriented brands that it acquired when it bought HGTV from Scripps Networks in March of 2018.

The Magnolia Network was originally slated to debut in October of 2020 but pandemic conditions impacted its production schedule, pushing back getting new shows completed and ready to air. Instead, the parent company added Magnolia to its own Discovery Plus DISCA streaming service along with a dedicated app for viewing both existing shows from the series’ extensive library as well as new shows that were originally being developed for the network. That includes the flagship Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, the new show the Gaines launched earlier this year.

Joining it are a number of new series, some featuring familiar faces from the Fixer Upper franchise like furniture builder and restorer Clint Harp. Well-known HGTV host Andrew Zimmern will have a new show on family cooking while other entries focus on decorating, remodeling, fitness, farming and more cooking. One such show, Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines, is already available. All shows can continue to be accessed on the Discovery Plus streaming service even as they are broadcast on the new cable network.

For the Gaines, this is one more step – a big one – in their ascendency as perhaps the best known and most influential figures in home design trends. Their signature “modern farmhouse” look has become a staple of American households with elements like shiplap walls, farmhouse sinks, inspirational wall art, oversized clocks and an almost Disney-like obsession with vintage details that may or may not have actually existed back in the good old days.

Magnolia Network joins the Gaines home empire, which includes a complex of shops and restaurants in their Waco, TX hometown, the Magnolia Journal (published by Meredith) with a claimed readership of more than 5.5 million, several enormously successful licensed programs including one under the Hearth & Hand sub-brand available exclusively at Target, a direct-to-consumer product program, books and now hospitality offerings in Waco. Estimates of the total size of these combined businesses are quite diverse but would suggest an enterprise of considerable size.

On the website, the Gaines talk about their origins and what it means today: “We believe in Home. We started Magnolia with that simple rallying cry back in 2003. And what was true then is still true today: home is our favorite place to be.”

And in those almost two decades since, that home has gotten quite, quite large.