Chip and Joanna Gaines on Launching Magnolia Network, Being TV Executives & the Media

Chip and Joanna Gaines grace the cover of the latest issues of The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the launch of their own TV network.

Transcript

00:00Chip and Joanna Gaines graced the cover of the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the launch of their own TV network.

00:06Magnolia Network debuts July 15th on Discovery Plus before taking over the cable channel currently occupied by DIY in January.

00:14When speaking to THR's Mikey O'Connell, The Fixer Upper stars said,

00:18what makes them nervous about being TV executives is that they'll have to cancel shows.

00:22Joanna said of the series that will be on their network, their stories were passionate about telling.

00:26If some only hit a smaller demographic, I don't care. We're going to do a season two.

00:31The digital first launch gives the married couple a six-month learning curve to see what registers and what doesn't,

00:36before the more easily measured expectations of cable.

00:39Joanna said, we can't stop cable from dying. That's not our mission.

00:43But while it's still available, we hope you spend an hour or five with us and leave feeling like it was time well spent.

00:48In addition to pulling strings behind the scenes, the couple will also appear on camera on series like Magnolia Table,

00:54a cooking show that shares a name with their Waco restaurant and Joanna's first cookbook,

00:58a documentary about Chip training to run a marathon,

01:01and a nine-episode reboot of Fixer Upper titled Welcome Home.

01:04The pair who drew criticism for never featuring same-sex couples on the original Fixer Upper

01:09also opened up about their anxieties around being misunderstood in the media.

01:14Joanna said,

01:15Both Chip and Joanna stressed that they'd rather be judged by the choices they're now making on their own network,

01:33where many series will star people of color, and on launch day,

01:36there will be at least one show with openly queer talent at its center.

01:39Chip said,

01:40As an American white male, it's hard to be perfectly diverse.

01:43In our own company, we've got nearly 700 employees,

01:46and one of our biggest passions is making this group represent all people.

01:50For the full cover story, check out the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter and THR.com.

01:55For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.