"ELLEN'S DESIGN CHALLENGE" AMONG HIGHEST-RATED SERIES IN HGTV HISTORY

NEW YORK [For Immediate Release March 3, 2015] The first season of Ellen's Design Challenge now ranks as one of the highest-rated series in HGTV history. The finale on Monday, March 2, which was the highest-rated show of the night on HGTV, averaged a .86 P25-54 rating -- making HGTV a top 10 rated cable network in primetime among viewers P25-54. Averaging a .83 P25-54 rating this season, the six-episode furniture design competition grew 48% versus the prior 13 week average. Since its premiere on Monday, January 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Ellen's Design Challenge consistentlyranked as a top 10-rated cable program for the Monday 9P-10P time period among P25-54.

Produced by Ellen's production company, A Very Good Production, and A. Smith & Co. in association with Telepictures, Ellen's Design Challenge required that competitors tackle ingenious challenges to sketch, design and build extraordinary furniture while avoiding elimination. The last competitor standing in season one of the series will receive a $100,000 cash prize courtesy of Wayfair.com and have their work featured in HGTV Magazine.

Executive producers for Ellen's Design Challenge include Ellen, who first conceptualized the series, along with Jeff Kleeman of A Very Good Production, and Arthur Smith, Kent Weed and Tim Eagan of A. Smith & Co.

ABOUT HGTV

America's leading home and lifestyle brand, HGTV features a top-rated cable network that is distributed to more than 96 million U.S. households and the HGTV website, HGTV.com, the nation's leading online home-and-garden destination that attracts an average of four million unique visitors per month. The brand also includes the HGTV HOME(TM) consumer products line which showcases exclusive collections of paint, flooring, lighting, furniture, plants, fabrics and other home-oriented products. In partnership with Hearst Magazines, the HGTV Magazine, a home and lifestyle publication, is currently available on newsstands. Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., HGTV is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI).

ABOUT TELEPICTURES

Telepictures is an industry-leading and Emmy(R) Award-winning producer of innovative, multiplatform advertiser-friendly television series and digital content for the first-run syndication, cable and digital marketplace. Programs produced by Telepictures have won 85 Emmy(R) Awards in the last 18 years, including Outstanding Talk Show or Outstanding Talk Show Host for 15 of the last 17 years. Current Telepictures series include The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen's Design Challenge, Extra, Judge Mathis, The People's Court, The Real, TMZ, TMZ Hollywood Sports, TMZ Live, Candidly Nicole and Let's Ask America. Upcoming programs include Crime Watch Daily and Hello Goodbye. For more information about Telepictures programming, please visit www.telepicturestv.com.

ABOUT A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION

A Very Good Production (AVGP) is the Emmy(R)-winning television and film production company of producer/writer/actor/host Ellen DeGeneres. Based at Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) with an exclusive multiyear deal, AVGP produces the nationally syndicated daytime talk program The Ellen DeGeneres Show and develops television projects for all divisions of WBTVG, including scripted and unscripted primetime series for network and cable, as well as additional syndicated fare. AVGP's current slate of television projects includes the new scripted comedy One Big Happy for NBC; unscripted series Repeat After Me for ABC; unscripted design competition program Ellen's Design Challenge for HGTV; and Hello Goodbye, an upcoming unscripted series for the Travel Channel highlighting heart-warming - and sometimes heart-wrenching - stories of love, sorrow, family and friendship from travelers of all cultures and walks of life. Jeff Kleeman serves as President of A Very Good Production.

ABOUT A. SMITH & CO

A. Smith & Co. Productions creates some of the most innovative, highly rated and high-quality programming for the domestic and international television marketplace. The company has produced more than 2,000 hours of award-winning programming. Current productions include such hits as Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, American Ninja Warrior, Unsung, Full Throttle Saloon, Burns BBQ, Celebrity Crime Files, Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, Too Young to Marry?, Save Our Business, UFC Countdown, Joe Rogan Questions Everything, Divorce Hotel and many others. A. Smith & Co.'s library of programming includes hit shows such as Paradise Hotel, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, The Swan, Trading Spaces, Pros vs. Joes and Skating with Celebrities. A. Smith & Co. has developed and produced the No. 1 show in America 25 times and a Top 10 show more than 200 times, producing programs with budgets totaling approximately one billion dollars for more than 42 broadcast and cable networks.