TLC outlined on Tuesday (March 31) a new programming lineup built around series featuring style makeovers, weddings, families and what the network characterized as "milestone moments."
Follow those themes in order, and it could be a conventional recipe for success, at least in the eyes of TLC viewers, who the network "affectionately" called "heart seekers."
"[They] come to us for a sense of community – to share their own lives and the real lives of the people on TLC," Nancy Daniels, TLC general manager, said.
The network touted its viewers' engagement with programming between seasons via social media and Web platforms, citing its ranking among the top 5 most social cable networks for reality programming in 2014 (per Nielsen Social, ranked by unique authors) and a 267% increase in average monthly engaged users on its Facebook pages from 2013 to 2014 (per Facebook Insights).
In the offing this year for viewers to engage with are more than 50 new and returning series, comprising more than 500 hours of original programming, TLC said.
Adding to its roster of shows about unconventional families, established by 19 Kids and Counting (the Duggars), Little People, Big World and the departed Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, TLC has slated two new entries for for the third quarter: Hardly Royal (working title), about blue-collar car repair advisor David Drew and his family after he discovers "he is heir and rightful King of the Isle of Mann in the United Kingdom"; and Quinceañera (w.t.), about two cousins who are Miami's premiere party planners and dress shop owners serving that momentous Latin American cultural tradition.
A TLC spokesperson confirmed that the previously announced series All That Jazz about transgender teen activist Jazz Jennings and her family remains on track to premiere this summer.
Other family-themed shows on tap this year include Long Lost Family, reuniting separated family members, which premieres this quarter, and I Got You Babies (w.t.), a docu-series scheduled for first-quarter 2016 that will track four sets of first-time parents over the course of their child's first year.
In the style and weddings category, TLC announced makeover series Dare to Wear and Brides Gone Styled, both coming in the second quarter; and #SaveMyStyle (w.t.) and Swipe Right (w.t.), which adds a digital dating twist to the format, both scheduled for Q3. Additionally, the self-explanatory Extreme Dream Weddings premieres in Q3.
TLC's "milestone moments" programming essentially covers dating and marriage. The network characterized two of them as "a new social experiment": Marriage Pact (w.t.), which explores whether marital success increases when you marry your best friend or friend with benefits, and Married by Mom and Dad (w.t.), about couples matched for marriage by their parents (Q4).
Also scheduled for Q3 in the milestone moments of dating genre is 3 Bad Dates, 1 Soul Mate, which "recreates the dating misadventures of two women whose love lives play out like Hollywood rom coms," TLC said.
