Real Estate Cold; Real Estate TV Hot

NEW YORK (AP) -- Real estate may have cooled considerably as an investment, but not real estate television.

House flipping and home renovation programs are still big hits on cable. While "for sale" signs sprout on lawns across the country, TV programmers are like developers who plow ahead with new housing projects anyway.

A new season of the A&E Network's "Flip This House" - one of a troika with TLC's "Flip That House" and Bravo's "Flipping Out" - premieres Saturday night.

A&E has several new programs in development. At least six new ones are beginning on TLC in the next year, starting with "Date My House," where former "Bachelor" Bob Guiney hosts a program where potential buyers spend a night in a home on the market.

HGTV had its highest prime-time ratings ever in January.

Real-estate programs defy market slowdown

NEW YORK -- Real estate might have cooled as an investment -- but not as fodder for television.

House-flipping and home-

renovating programs are still big hits on cable. While "For sale" signs sprout on lawns nationwide, TV programmers are like developers who plow ahead with new housing projects anyway.

A new season of Flip This House on A&E -- one of a troika, with Flip That House on TLC and Flipping Out on Bravo -- is to begin Saturday.

A&E has several new programs in development, and at least six new ones are beginning on TLC during the next year, starting with Date My House -- in which host Bob Guiney, the former Bachelor, has potential buyers spend a night in a home on the market.

HGTV had its highest prime-time ratings in January.