TLC has HGTV’s number

A poll conducted last year for HGTV revealed that television viewers considered “Trading Spaces” one of their favorite shows on the cable channel.

One problem: It’s on TLC, not HGTV.

“Trading Spaces,” the remodeling show in which neighbors impose their decorating tastes on neighbors, was the most popular show on basic cable last week, eclipsing professional wrestling and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

It has spawned imitators and transformed home-improvement television.

Nowhere is that more evident than at HGTV, a network built on home design that somehow missed out on the biggest home-design sensation on television.

Two programs debuting on HGTV this year clearly show the influence of “Trading Spaces.”

One, already on the air, is “Design on a Dime,” which applies the TLC show’s concept of strict spending limits in inviting designers to remodel homes.

The second, coming in March, is “Ground Rules!” -- which, HGTV says, “challenges homeowners to redesign and install their landscaping in friendly competition with their neighbors within a limited budget and time frame.”

Sound familiar?

To be fair, HGTV shows like “Designing for the Sexes” and “Designers’ Challenge” predated “Trading Spaces.” But in developing new programs, they’ve ramped up the energy level.

HGTV had a chance to air “Trading Spaces” but passed. The show is an American version of a British show, “Changing Rooms,” which has become a lot more visible on BBC America since its offspring took off.

HGTV was offered a chance to lease the concept for American television, but at the time it wanted to own its own programming outright. HGTV’s ownership policy has since changed.

HGTV’s ratings have been static; viewership declined by 3% last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. Thanks to “Design on a Dime,” though, things are looking up. TLC’s viewership, meanwhile, surged 27% last year.

“What ‘Trading Spaces’ did was to take a category that was rather stale and linear and turn it on its head,” said TLC programming chief Roger Marmet. “It is a show about design and how-to, but by and large it’s an entertainment program. It’s got so many different layers to it that people will watch for different reasons.”

TLC, a.k.a the Learning Channel, has already successfully nicked its own concept with “While You Were Out,” in which a spouse is coaxed out of the house to let designers transform it.

And VH1 imitated “Trading Spaces” with “Rock the House,” which engages pop stars like Sammy Hagar, Snoop Dogg and A.J. McLean to show off their decorating tastes in the homes of unsuspecting fans.