Competition
HGTV has positioned its product range in such a way that it has established a specific niche of the market. The market is on how- to-do shows which are quite unique to the audience, and hence the satellite television channel is a way ahead of the competition. It has tailored the programs to respond to particular needs of the market, which is not easy to match. However the unpredictability of the satellite television implies that the organization has to keep strategizing as measure to remain relevant and also position itself in the anticipation of any future competition. The organization’s products on home improvement, gardening and remodeling remain unique features that target the entire households, as everyone is in one way or the other involved in the issues of home management and designs (Klepper, and Kenneth 1001).New Entrants
The probability of new entrants into the market is real as the existing television channels could tailor some of their existing programs or even design new programs that could offer direct competition to HGTV. Some of the popular channels such as the CNN, Fox News and ESPN could all be sources of competition as they have the infrastructure and the personnel to do so. However the current position in the cable and satellite television channel market indicates that the company is well positioned to dominate the market in the matters related to home improvement (Narayanan and Liam 210).
End Users
The customers have the abilities to affect the prices as the American households who form a bulk of the audience are very enlightened on the areas of home remodeling. It is critical to mention that the buyers have the purchasing power for the range of products offered by the organization and hence are in a good position to affect the prices and could shift the direction of the market.
Suppliers
The suppliers in the field are in a position to offer support to the organization. The satellite TV channel has established positive relationships that have long term objectives and therefore are attributable to the growth success that the company has been experiencing in the last couple of years (Bhaskaran, and Stephen 1280).Substitutes
The issue of the substitutes is not applicable considering the nature of the cable TV. Unlike the consumer products which easily flood the market to compete with similar products the cable and the satellite television channel business is a long term investment which cannot just be duplicated through the introduction of similar programs in the market. However the existing channels in the television industry are in a position to introduce similar products and therefore pose a threat to HGTV business model (Dong, Panos Kouve and Zhongjun 320).Complementary Products
All the major cable and satellite television channels in the American market have complementary products but HGTV remains ahead due to the uniqueness of their product design. Therefore the existing products in the market remain a threat as the other companies in the field continue strategizing in an effort to acquire a share of the market.
Sustainable competitive advantage in the industry
HGTV has a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry due to the unique design of the programming. The channel focuses on topics that are quite relevant to majority of the Americans and indeed to millions of other households around the world. The fact that the channel had already captured 82.2% of the American households with television by 2015 implies that the company has a strong footing in the industry. The strong position the company occupies in the market puts it in a strong position for innovation and hence gains the competitive advantages in the industry.
The similarities in the strategies adopted by the company and those of trader Joe are that they both clearly tailor their products to suit the specific needs of the market. They identify areas of the market that are always neglected and remodel them to capture the attention of the market. Both companies focus on prominent topics that have for a long time been ignored.
Works cited
Bhaskaran, Sreekumar R., and Stephen M. Gilbert. "Selling and leasing strategies for durable goods with complementary products." Management Science 51.8 (2005): 1278-1290.
Dong, Lingxiu, Panos Kouvelis, and Zhongjun Tian. "Dynamic pricing and inventory control of substitute products." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 11.2 (2009): 317-339.
Klepper, Steven, and Kenneth L. Simons. "Dominance by birthright: entry of prior radio producers and competitive ramifications in the US television receiver industry." Strategic Management Journal 21.10-11 (2000): 997-1016.
McAuley, Julian, Rahul Pandey, and Jure Leskovec. "Inferring networks of substitutable and complementary products." Proceedings of the 21th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining. ACM, 2015.
Narayanan, V. K., and Liam Fahey. "The relevance of the institutional underpinnings of Porter's five forces framework to emerging economies: An epistemological analysis." Journal of Management Studies 42.1 (2005): 207-223.
