My wife relentlessly entered HGTV's "Green Home Giveaway," convinced she would win. She registered under five different e-mail accounts daily, dedicated to making her dream of living in Hilton Head, S.C., come true. The drawing is way past press time, so if she's a winner, we don't know that yet. But I can tell you something her whole exercise made me realize: Who among us would have envisioned just 10 years ago that (1) a 24/7 cable TV channel dedicated to gardening and home improvement would (2) generate 40+ million online registrations for (3) a green home? That a channel such as HGTV even exists is a testimony to the willingness of TV executives to get out of their comfort zones. Rather than settle for yet more generic dramas, game shows, and situation comedies, they blew away the status quo and took control of their future.