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Frank, Vern, Hilda, ... and Ken?: A Burkeian Analysis of Trading Spaces Richard K. Olsen, Ph.D. Catherine Wells University of North Carolina at Wilmington Presented at the 2003 Southern State Communication Association Conference in Birmingham Alabama Inquiries: Richard K. Olsen, Ph.D. olsenr@ 910.962.3710 Frank, Vern, Hilda, ... and Ken?: A Burkeian Analysis of Trading Spaces TLC, cable TV’s The Learning Channel has been on of the more dominant cable destinations for America’s channel surfers. Early TLC programming centered on animals and big machine documentaries. However, as cable has matured and National Geographic and others began to saturate us with profiles of animal life, TLC has integrated more “life unscripted” programming such as A Wedding Story and A Baby Story and some unique competitions such as Junkyard Wars and Robotica. Yet one TLC show eclipses them all and brings both men and women together to see what happens when neighbors decorate a room in each others houses with the help of a professional interior designer: Trading Spaces. It has consistently provided a 2-3 Nielsen rating and had a peak of 3.2 when Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks was a guest (Foege, 2002). In real numbers that means about 6 million viewers are tuning in to see what Frank, Doug and Ty might create this week in 48 hours with the help of two sets of neighbors. It is consistently the top cable show on Saturday and Sunday excluding premium channels. The popularity of the show does not end with the Nielsen rating. Over half of 25 million daily pageviews on TLC’s website are related to the show. It has also spawned imitation within and beyond TLC. While You Were Out has a similar decorate on a dime and a day or two energy to it. It has also coined a new term for TV lexicon: “the reveal.” This is shorthand for the final segment of the show when the homeowners return to find out what the Trading Spaces designer, with the help of their neighbors/friends, have don