• June 19, 2003

Universal Domestic Television has signed Denise L. Cramsey, who was produce for the TLC show Trading Spaces, to an overall development deal. She will produce lifestyle shows for first-run syndication, network primetime and cable. Lisa Hackner, executive vice president of programming and development for Universal Domestic Television, said Cramsey is a top producer of the genre in television today. "We are extremely excited that she chose to sign with Universal. Lifestyle television is a business that we - like many other studios and networks - very much want to be in, and who better than someone of Denise's caliber to take us there," Hackner said.

Less than a year after Cramsey took over as executive producer of Trading Spaces in May 2001, the show - a format imported from Britain - broke through with American viewers. Trading Spaces set ratings records for TLC with the third season premiere, two celebrity episodes and a first-ever live show. Her association with TLC began in May 1995, when she was selected to help create a format for Medical Detectives, a half-hour reality series that focused on forensic science. Cramsey then moved to Philadelphia's Banyan Productions and was named senior producer of TLC's Gimme Shelter. A year later, she became executive producer of A Baby tore and then executive produced one season of A Wedding Story before moving to Trading Spaces.