HGTV is giving an early gift to viewers this holiday season in the form of a new reality series that documents the lives of Christmas “hoarders”—who spend tends of thousands of dollars a year amassing and storing their wild collections of festive decor.
Months after carrying out an extensive program purge, the home-renovation network is bringing some festive cheer to screens with its four-part series, “Hoarding for the Holidays,” which hit screens on Nov. 11.
The show follows different holiday hoarders in various locations across the U.S., including Texas, New Jersey, and Nevada, shining a twinkle light on their jaw-dropping hauls of Christmas decor and trinkets—and the extraordinary cost of collecting and storing it all.
“‘Hoarding for the Holidays’ will unwrap the world of the Yuletide obsessed where the spirit of the season takes over every inch of life—and living space,” the show’s description reads.
“The four one-hour episodes won’t feature your average festive folks; these are people who have traded sanity for Santa and peace on Earth for thousands of plastic blow molds, 15-foot snowmen and enough lights to rival the Las Vegas strip.”
In the premiere episode, viewers are introduced to four so-called hoarders, one of whom spends so much of his time and energy on his Christmas collection that it threatens to “ruin his friendships,” while another—who collects vintage decor—is seen at risk of bankrupting himself with his shocking festive spending.
Meanwhile, episode two in the series, which will air on Nov. 18, features one hoarder who admits she spends a shocking $9,000-a-month just to store her holiday decorations.
Another admits that she spends $15,000-a-year on buying new decorations to add to her already-impressive stash of decor.
“A decorator splurges on a $5,000 tree despite her husband’s protests, a young man builds a glowing Ferris wheel for his epic display and two business owners race to finish their Christmas setup as family and festive chaos collide,” the episode description states.
Meanwhile, someone else confessed that he has so many items that he needs 27 storage areas.
“Get inside the traditions of holiday decorators and festive collectors; from couples divided over decor-overload to families juggling with storage, see the world of those who are passionate for the season,” the series description goes on.
The series comes after HGTV pulled the plug on several shows in a matter of weeks at the start of the summer.
The future of the home renovation network has been up in the air in recent months after HGTV revealed that it was canceling several series, including “Bargain Block,” “Married to Real Estate,” “Farmhouse Fixer,” “Izzy Does It,” “Christina on the Coast,” and “The Flipping El Moussas.”
Although the network hasn’t revealed the reason for the slew of cancellations, a report from Deadline says the decreasing number of viewers is partly to blame for the removal of the shows.
The outlet, which spoke to numerous sources that produce for the network, said that HGTV averaged about 1.5 million viewers in 2017, citing Nielsen.
However, since then, the network has struggled to bring in audiences, with its average viewership last year coming in at 773,000.
The U.S. Television Database lists HGTV as the seventh most popular TV channel, with an average of 628,000 viewers.
According to Deadline’s story, the company is struggling to attract viewers aged 18 to 49, losing 26% among that demographic in the past year.
In 2017, viewers aged 18 to 49 averaged 425,000, while 2024 saw only 101,000.
The outlet noted that part of the reason for HGTV’s troubles is the large budget it takes to produce and put on a home renovation show.
The overhaul shows reportedly cost upward of $500,000 per episode.
One source told the outlet, “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.”
An unnamed producer who makes the network’s renovation shows come to life said, “Stuff wouldn’t arrive on time; we had wood floors, for instance, that would come in six weeks after we started production, and then we’re also depending on contractors.
“Everyone knows if you’re doing construction on your home, you never come in on budget. So, try to apply that to a show that has really strict budgets. Some of our episodes took 16 weeks to shoot; it’s more labor-intensive than doing a real estate show.”
Real estate shows reportedly cost around $200,000 to $300,00 per episode and take a shorter amount of time to film.
HGTV is also struggling to compete with social media creators who show off their DIY renovations on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Realtor.com® has reached out to a representative for HGTV for comment.
Since June 18, the hosts of “Bargain Block,” “Married to Real Estate,” “Farmhouse Fixer,” and “Izzy Does It” have all shared the heartbreaking news about their shows’ cancellations.