Are Fixer Upper's Chip & Joanna Gaines Holding Out For A Bigger & Better Deal With Discovery??

Show them the money!
As we reported, Chip and Joanna Gaines shocked their fans when they announced season five would be the last of their hit HGTV show, Fixer Upper.
Now we’re hearing the renovation duo may be holding out for a potential deal with Discovery Communications, which is in talks to buy Scripps (the company that owns HGTV).
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A network insider told Page Six:

“Many years ago, when Scripps, which also owns Food Network, signed Rachael Ray, they didn’t think about Rachael starting a magazine, launching product lines, getting endorsement deals and her books selling millions of copies. And so while Food Network turned Rachael Ray into a star, she made tens of millions and Scripps got none of it. After Rachael, they made sure no talent deal would ever put them in that situation again. Since the Gaineses were relatively unknown when they started, they signed the general Scripps talent contract.”

The source went on to add:

“Scripps talent contracts are very restrictive. The talent can’t do anything without their approval ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ any appearance, any publicity, any endorsement, any product ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ you have to ask them for permission. It is awful. And on top of that, Scripps takes a big percentage of everything you make ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ books, appearances, endorsements, products. If you make money, they take most of the money.”

So it sounds like the Gaines’ are ready to take their talents elsewhere for more money and more control:

“As Chip and Joanna grew more famous and popular over the years, the HGTV conceded to a few changes to their contract ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ like not taking a percentage of their Target collection ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ but they still wanted the Gaineses to shoot long days, promote the show and just work their butts off. So they are using this end of their contract as a total renegotiation to get the deal they really want: more money, less work, more control. The timing of Discovery buying Scripps worked well in their favor. With Discovery hopefully now about to own Scripps, they are rolling the dice thinking the new owners will come running after them and give them the deal they really want.”

Considering Chip and Joanna’s popularity, we can’t imagine Discovery not wanting to hop on board!