Mike Rowe no longer host of Sunday morning infomercial "Your New

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 6, 2007 by Karen Buckelew

For Discovery Channel fans, Mike Rowe probably is most recognizable for being knee-deep in cow patties, covered in bat guano or crouched in the innards of a sewage treatment plant.

But among Baltimoreans, the face of the popular Discovery show, "Dirty Jobs," has been known for more than a decade in a much cleaner capacity - as host of the Sunday morning infomercial "Your New Home."

Rowe's long run with the program, a marketing vehicle for local home builders, ended last December when his final episodes as host aired on WJZ-TV ".

According to "Your New Home" creator Jack Miller, The Discovery Channel wasn't impressed with its rising star's side job hosting a local housing infomercial. The network, owned by Discovery Communications Inc. of Silver Spring, asked Rowe to end his run on the local spot, according to Miller.

Rowe and executives at Discovery Communications were unavailable for comment Monday.

After auditioning about 100 candidates nationwide to be Rowe's replacement, Los Angeles-based syndicated radio host Chris Leary was chosen. Leary started appearing in segments of the show in September.

At first, it seemed the program would be in jeopardy without Rowe, admitted Miller, the show's producer and director, also founder and board chair of Towson advertising agency The Miller Group.

"You hold your breath a little bit when you say you're switching hosts," Miller said. "We've been on the air for 14 years in Baltimore. After this long, the question is: Is it the show, or is it Mike?"

What makes Rowe a hit on "Dirty Jobs" was the same thing that helped make Your New Home locally the most-watched show in its time slot, 10:30 a.m. Sundays, Miller added.

"He's just a great guy," he said. "What you see on the Discovery Channel, that's Mike. That's his personality. It all really started out with 'Your New Home.'"

What viewers see of Rowe on the Discovery Channel is a host willing to dig blood worms out of the mud with his bare hands, catch and tag sharks, maintain a sewage treatment plant and shear alpacas - just a few of the unpleasant tasks he has cheerfully undertaken the past three seasons.

On "Your New Home," Rowe guided viewers each episode through tours of model homes at 11 different Baltimore housing communities, featuring the builder's sales staff at each location. On the Washington version of the show, on the air for three years on ABC affiliate WJLA, Rowe presented 10 Washington-area communities.

The show's secret is its innovative blend of information with sales pitch without overwhelming the viewer with a hard sell, Miller said.

And the most effective element, he added, may be the introduction of the communities' sales staffs.

"The prospective buyer is - afraid someone's going to sell him something he doesn't want," said Miller. "He feels very intimidated by the salespeople. When people walk in after seeing the show, they feel they already know these people."

Earl Robinson, vice president of sales and marketing for Ryland Homes, said the show is the company's top marketing effort. Ryland has used the program for eight years.

"They feel like, when they meet [sales staff] on television, they kind of have a little bond with them," Robinson said.

Miller conceived the show when several local builders suggested the idea. Rowe was in the right place at the right time for the hosting job - he was dating one of Miller's employees.

The 44-year-old Rowe has had a winding career path - from singing with the Baltimore Opera to pitchman for products on television shopping network QVC to, from 2001 to 2005, hosting the show "Evening Magazine" in San Francisco, where he now lives.

The host's loyalty to the show is to be expected, Miller added: "He would probably still be doing the show" if the Discovery Channel had not intervened.

As for the future of "Your New Home," Miller's worry has dissipated. "So far this year, we've gotten a tremendous response, a better response - than last year," he said.