Want to meet Australia’s highest-selling children’s author, learn how to make a Tamarind fish curry, see an English homestead in regional Victoria, or transform the back garden in time for Christmas?

All that and more is on offer as Seven’s long-running lifestyle show, Better Homes and Gardens, celebrates its 30th year on air this year, finding the sweet spot for TV audiences craving for the simple things in life.

Consistently winning the ratings war – even as the holiday season approaches – TV expert Steve Molk tells The New Daily it’s all in the short segments it delivers, and the handy time slot.

Starting with the magazine back in 1978, almost 50 years ago, Molk, who delivers regular ratings reports across all the broadcasters, said Better Homes and Gardens clocked in just behind Seven and Nine news bulletins with a total TV national reach of 1.44 million viewers on November 8.

Short but sweet

“Again [it] leads the way”.

“It is finishing its 30th season, so viewers are welded on to the magazine lifestyle format that it does so well.

“When we get to Friday night, our viewing habits are usually looking for something to relax with, and this is where the lifestyle format works so well – five to 12-minute segments that mean our attention doesn’t have to be on the entire thing but just the bits we like.”

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A multi-platform brand, with a total audience reach of six million combining a TV show, seasonal print publications and digital and social platforms, the print magazine’s editor Megan Osborne says 96 per cent of their audience “takes action after engaging with our content”.

Whether it’s cooking a recipe, making a purchasing decision, or tackling a DIY project, she says on the publication’s ARE homepage that viewers are getting “trusted advice, helpful guides and accessible creative ideas”.

Importantly, the audience is “connecting with joy” and can “turn ideas into real-life impact”.

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Rich history

A Seven spokesperson says the first show aired in January 1995, with 31 seasons over time, and is the country’s No.1 lifestyle show.

Its core audience are women aged over 55 (making up 42 per cent of the show’s audience), and with an average 1.5 million viewers it’s still seeing a steady incline in ratings with a 40 per cent year-on-year growth on 7plus.

The show’s long-time TV presenters, Joh Griggs, vet Dr Harry Cooper and architect Peter Colquhoun spoke about the broadcast milestone, saying it was a “privilege” to bring the lifestyle show to air.

Its longest-running co-host since the show started in 1995, Graham Ross (who has presented more than 700 episodes), described it as “an epic show, always has been”.

“Even when it started on a Tuesday evening all those years ago, going up against that huge blockbuster show, Friends,” he said at the time.

Forgotten Friends  

Unbeknown to many fans, Ross said the show was the reason Friends never recovered in the ratings.

“We knocked it off its pedestal and history shows that,” Ross said.

“Not all critics accept the truth, but that night spelled the end of Friends“.

Who knew?

Aussies chose cooking, handicraft and planting tomatoes over the biggest US comedy show and entertainment export of the 1990s.

Colin Fassnidge in a strawberry field making a consommé. Photo: Seven

Variety is the spice of lifestyle

On any given week, the Seven network distributes a running sheet of what’s coming up on the show in their allocated 7pm time slot on Seven, 7two and 7plus.

There are eight short segments to watch. All completely different.

Easy to watch. Not overly produced. No instant celebrities to dominate the camera or get to know. Familiarity.

“Cast play a big part,” Molk said.

Here’s what they delivered on one recent Friday night.

• Chef Colin Fassnidge visits a Queensland strawberry farm and shows viewers how to make a strawberry consommé with meringue and vanilla mascarpone
• Builder Adam Dovile and Colquhoun check out the outer Melbourne suburb of Ferntree Gully for affordable housing and families seeking a tree-change lifestyle
• Gardener Charlie Albone shows viewers how to choose the right plant for the right spot in the garden and also
  give you some top tips to get them planted
• Dr Harry introduces us to a ball-obsessed cocker spaniel with a  family needing serious help
• Griggs is shown around Newcastle Greens, a specialty
  farm growing edible flowers, rare leaves, and heirloom vegetables for restaurants.
• Juliet Love (Albone’s partner) upcycles an old cupboard door mirror into a freestanding mirror
• Dovile has a second segment with how to get more light into your bathroom – a skylight featuring a solar-powered source.

Seven says the show has held its position as the leading homemaker show in Australia, and constantly rates in the national top 10.

“It is the first major television-magazine crossover show in the world, with the magazine and the production working hand in hand to bring to the viewers the best ideas and information available,” he said.

For the record, it has won 13 Logies, been nominated for 25 and won a People’s Choice Award internationally.

Better Homes and Garden’s Christmas special airs on Friday, November 29 at 7pm on Channel 7 and 7plus.