How HGTV Maintains Its Grip on Comfort Television by Constantly Evolving |

When David Bromstad, the host of HGTV’s “My Lottery Dream Home,” won that network’s reality series “Design Star” in 2006, the network was a very different place. “Coming in through a reality show, I was just at the start of the big changes that were happening,” he recalls. “When HGTV started, there were still crafts in the morning and quilting — it was a whole other genre.”

For the network that began its life in 1994 as a safe place to land for those seeking soothing infotainment, “Design Star” was a tentative first step to introduce reality programming. Today, as part of the Discovery Inc. family, the channel is practically a star factory, minting talent as well-known for their distinctive flair — and personal dramas — as for the help they can proffer in design and renovation. “I’ve always wanted HGTV to be pushed a little bit when it comes to our personalities, letting our true freak flag fly,” Bromstad says, “and they’re doing that now. It’s people being people, but they’re bringing more of their people-ness to it.”