Renovation Island and Island of Bryan are the same show – it was just renamed for licencing purposes when HGTV brought the show to the United States.
There are many different reasons why home renovation and DIY-style programming is still so popular to this day.
Bryan Baeumler is one of the people who has benefitted from the popularity of this kind of programming
His HGTV Canada show, Island of Bryan, became so popular that it was picked up by HGTV for the United States and renamed Renovation Island.
Why are HGTV shows so popular?
Home renovation and DIY programs have always been a popular form of entertainment and it continues to be popular today, even with younger, “Gen Z” audiences. In fact, in 2022, HGTV is watched by about 78 million households in the United States.
The reason for HGTV’s continued popularity throughout the years is likely a combination of several factors, such as the fact that most of its shows are compelling and endearing, but do not require laser focus to enjoy.
Therefore, they make for the perfect background entertainment.
Are Renovation Island and Island of Bryan the same?
Bryan Baeumler, his wife, Sarah, and their children and team are just one of the parties who have found great success with their shows on HGTV.
Bryan originally started his television career over a decade ago in Canada when his construction company did some work for HGTV Canada.
Bryan’s great construction and charismatic personality landed him an interview with some of the network’s executives.
He eventually landed his own show, called Disaster DIY on HGTV Canada, and then many other shows which were centred around Bryan and even his family.
On 9 April 2019, Bryan’s new show, Island of Bryan, premiered on HGTV Canada and the show became an instant hit with audiences.
After his show proved to be so successful in Canada, HGTV decided to introduce the show to a wider audience in the United States in August 2020, but under a different name, for licensing purposes.
When Island of Bryan premiered on HGTV in the United States, its name changed to Renovation Island, even though the content of the show remained almost exactly the same, despite this name change.
The show currently has five seasons, and it is enjoying a similar success in the United States as it did in Canada, with the season premiere episode, which aired on 24 July 2022, helping the network bring in an impressive 5.6 million primetime viewers on HGTV.
How popular was Island of Bryan in Canada?
When the first season of Island of Bryan debuted in Canada, the show garnered nearly a million viewers per episode.
However, this initial success was not just beginner’s luck, and the show continued to bring in some of the highest viewership numbers that HGTV Canada had ever seen.
In 2019, Island of Bryan became the third most popular program of all of the Canadian speciality programming in the spring.
Furthermore, the show eventually also became HGTV Canada’s highest-rated show in over 10 years, and its viewership numbers just continued to increase from there.
What is the show all about?
Whether you prefer to call the show Island of Bryan or Renovation Island, the story remains the same.
The show follows Bryan and Sarah, as well as their children and a team of locals as they transform a run-down resort on the South Andros Island in the Bahamas into their dream luxury vacation spot, which is now open to the public, and it is named Caerula Mar Club.
The first two seasons of the show primarily focus on the demolition and rebuilding of the resort.
In the third season, the resort finally opens, and in the fourth, they continue renovations on the resort and on the family’s Florida home.
Has Bryan had any other shows on HGTV?
Although most fans know Bryan from this show, he also had a string of other successful shows in Canada before and after Island of Bryan became such a huge success. This includes shows such as House of Bryan, Leave It to Bryan, Bryan Inc. and more.
Fortunately for Bryan, after Renovation Island proved to be successful when it was broadcast to American audiences, HGTV has decided to bring some of his other shows to the United States as well.
This includes Bryan Inc., which was also renamed on HGTV in the United States as Renovation Inc.
The first two seasons of this show, and other spin-off shows like Renovation, Inc: The Beginning, Renovation, Inc: Home Sweet Home, and Renovation, Inc: The Lake House are available to stream in the United States if you have a Discovery+ subscription.