XPost: alt.music.country.classic, rec.music.country.western   
   From: gcmccoury@yahoo.com   
      
   The Tennessean   
      
   10/13/04   
      
   E.W. Scripps Co., the parent company of Nashville-based Shop At Home   
   network, is purchasing Great American Country for $140 million cash.   
      
   A 24-hour country music video network launched in 1996, Great American   
   Country is distributed via cable and satellite systems to about 34 million   
   households nationwide. The network is a wholly owned subsidiary of   
   Denver-based Jones Media, a privately held company that also runs the Jones   
   Radio Networks, a provider of syndicated radio content.   
      
   With the purchase, Cincinnati-based Scripps will add GAC to a lineup of   
   national networks that also includes the Food Network, Home & Garden   
   Television, the DIY - Do It Yourself Network and Shop At Home. Its   
   television properties have headquarters in Knoxville.   
      
   The diversified media company also owns 17 daily and community newspapers,   
   including The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and The Knoxville News Sentinel,   
   more than a dozen broadcast TV stations and United Media, licenser of the   
   Peanuts and Dilbert comic strips.   
      
   Great American Country, a competitor of MTV-owned CMT, has a studio on Music   
   Row. Along with country music videos, GAC airs original programming and the   
   Grand Ole Opry.   
      
   ''I think that this will be great for distribution,'' said Steve Buchanan,   
   senior vice president of media and entertainment for Opry owner Gaylord   
   Entertainment, saying it would accelerate GAC's subscriber growth. ''This   
   really underscores that they will invest in programming, which will be good   
   for the Opry and country music.''   
      
   The deal provides ''great synergy'' in content and advertising for Scripps,   
   said Nashville media analyst Robert Unmacht, noting that Scripps' cable   
   channels target women ages 25-54, as does GAC.   
      
   ''It's a great acquisition. It's not that strong a network, but it's a great   
   fit with (Scripps). They have a good collection of specialty cable channels.   
   And it keeps it all in the Tennessee family.''   
      
   ''Adding GAC to our portfolio of popular lifestyle television networks is   
   consistent with the long-term strategy for growth that Scripps set into   
   motion 10 years ago with the launch of HGTV,'' Kenneth Lowe, Scripps'   
   president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. A Scripps   
   representative could not be reached for further comment.   
      
   Jones Media's cable TV roots date back to 1967, when owner Glenn R. Jones   
   formed Intercable, a cable system with 1.5 million households at its peak.   
   Related cable businesses have been sold off over the years, and GAC had been   
   its sole remaining cable property.   
      
   ''(The sale) won't hurt Jones,'' Unmacht said. ''They made a lot of money on   
   cable, and they basically do what they want to do now.''   
      
   Scripps said it intends to maintain existing cross-promotion arrangements   
   between GAC and Jones Radio Networks.   
      
   The deal may result in some changes to Great American Country, Unmacht said.   
      
   ''It's not going to be bad change,'' he said. ''They'll have more resources,   
   and that's a good thing. It's going to a very competent operator that really   
   knows what they're doing.''   
      
   GAC President Jeff Wayne did not return a phone message left at his Colorado   
   office.   
      
   The transaction is subject to federal regulatory approval, but it's expected   
   to be complete by late November.   
      
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