XPost: alt.music.country.classic, rec.music.country.western
From: no.spam.garydw@speakeasy.net
"Grover C. McCoury III" wrote in message
news:mLKdnfYbkLOANvDcRVn-rg@adelphia.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.
>
>
GAC is being brought back to the home state of Country Music.
I just hope that the new owners make changes that are for the good, like
more classic music, and keeping the Grand Ole Opry on the air.
Gary
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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