Country | United States |
---|---|
Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Rural Media Group |
Key people | Patrick Gottsch (President) |
Sister channels | RFD-TV |
History | |
Launched | 1979 |
Former names | National Christian Network (1979–1986) Liberty Broadcasting Network (1986–1988) FamilyNet (1988–2017) |
Links | |
Website | Official website |
Availability | |
Streaming media | |
Sling TV | Internet Protocol television |
The Cowboy Channel (formerly FamilyNet) is an American cable television network in over 42 million cable and satellite homes, [1] which carries Western and rodeo sports. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took the name FamilyNet in 1988 under the ownership of Jerry Falwell. [2] It is owned by Patrick Gottsch, who also owns RFD-TV; [3] Gottsch operates both channels under the brand Rural Media Group.
The channel was acquired by InTouch Ministries in October 2007 from the Southern Baptist Convention. [4] In December 2009, FamilyNet was acquired by Robert A. Schuller's ComStar Media Fund. [5] In 2010, FamilyNet was spun out into its own company, with Robert A. Schuller as the chairman. [6]
The organization also operated FamilyNet Radio 161, a full-time Christian talk channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, but was discontinued on November 30, 2010; FamilyTalk replaced it.
From 2011 to 2012, the channel showed sitcoms like The Bob Newhart Show , Newhart , and Mr. Belvedere .
On October 24, 2012, Rural TV purchased FamilyNet, and the transaction took effect on January 1, 2013. At first the network was used to carry an all-trading day format of farm and market news, which eventually moved to a reduced timeslot on RFD-TV due to low interest and ratings. Rural Media, which had considered merging RFD-TV and FamilyNet together to gain over-the-air carriage, eventually decided to keep FamilyNet as a separate service, but with a refocus in programming towards classic television programming which was not picked up by competitors MeTV, Antenna TV and Cozi TV. Rural Media also decided not to renew over-the-air contracts with stations in a slow process in order to make it a cable-only network. A number of former FamilyNet affiliates (mainly religious stations) continue to carry programming recorded from the network's feed before the Rural TV sale, seemingly under a perpetual license.
In September 2014, FamilyNet was refocused with classic television series and films from the Sony Pictures Television libraries, with Sony also assisting with advertising sales. Religious programming, which used to make up the vast majority of the schedule under SBC and Schuller's ownership, was limited to Sunday mornings, though Rural Media also maintained FamilyNet's paid programming overnights despite their executives' traditional disdain for depending on those programs for revenue. (RFD-TV since also began to carry overnight paid programming.)
On June 19, 2017, Rural Media Group CEO Patrick Gottsch announced that on July 1, FamilyNet would be rebranded as The Cowboy Channel, featuring a focus on Western sports and rodeo events, which had proven to be a popular attraction on RFD-TV. Gottsch thanked Sony Pictures Television for bringing the network to a solid footing, but noted that overwhelming competition in the classic television space from networks such as MeTV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV, Heroes & Icons and several other networks and streaming options had made the space more competitive and crowded, while a Western sports network was seen as a unique opportunity to stand out in cable and satellite lineups. [7] [8] [9] Among the network's first offerings were encore events from RFD's The American Rodeo, the Calgary Stampede, and the Professional Bull Riders archives. Sony's archived programming thus moved to their own GetTV at the start of 2018.
The Cowboy Channel signed a multi-year agreement with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to televise and stream their major events, including the National Finals Rodeo, starting in 2020. [10]
With the network conversion, Rural Media used the opportunity to end their carriage agreements with over-the-air broadcasters, rendering the Cowboy Channel as a pay-TV only offering.
A Canadian version of the channel was launched on February 1, 2020, on Shaw Direct television systems through a partnership with Rural Media.
The Cowgirl Channel was launched on March 5, 2023. It specializes in programming about women in professional rodeo, western fashion, and rural lifestyles in general through the perspectives of women. Rodeos not televised on The Cowboy Channel are televised on The Cowgirl Channel.
In 2023, The Cowboy Channel signed a multi-year agreement with the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association to televise and stream their major events, including the Canadian Finals Rodeo through December 31, 2027. The Cowboy Channel Canada will also televise these events. [11]
Much of the Cowboy Channel's non-sports programming is drawn from RFD-TV's program library, with an emphasis on ranching and rodeo programs (thus the Cowboy Channel does not carry RFD-TV's music, agribusiness or news programming). Like RFD-TV, the Cowboy Channel carries brokered televangelism programming on Sunday mornings.
Title | Genre | Original network |
---|---|---|
All in the Family | Sitcom | CBS (1971–1979) |
Archie Bunker's Place | Sitcom | CBS (1979–1983) |
Barney Miller | Sitcom | ABC (1975–1982) |
Bewitched | Fantasy sitcom | ABC (1964–1972) |
The Facts of Life | Sitcom | NBC (1979–1988) |
Good Times | Sitcom | CBS (1974–1979) |
Malcolm & Eddie | Sitcom | UPN (1996–2000) |
Maude | Sitcom | CBS (1972–1978) |
One Day at a Time | Sitcom | CBS (1975–1984) |
Sanford and Son | Sitcom | NBC (1972–1977) |
Silver Spoons | Sitcom | NBC (1982–1986) Syndication (1986–1987) |
YTA TV is an American television network which originally launched in February 1985 as a cable channel. Unusual for a network of its type, it has had multiple identities, programming directions, and brandings, along with owners, and after merging with the minor broadcast network America One in 2014, also began to air on free over-the-air television. It is owned by Center Post Media, which also owns Biz Television.
WBKI is a television station licensed to Salem, Indiana, United States, serving the Louisville, Kentucky, area as a dual affiliate of The CW and MyNetworkTV. It is the only full-power Louisville-area station licensed to the Indiana side of the market. WBKI is owned by Block Communications alongside Fox affiliate WDRB. Both stations share studios on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in downtown Louisville, while WBKI's transmitter is located in rural northeastern Floyd County, Indiana. Despite Salem being WBKI's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.
WBPH-TV is a religious independent television station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia television market. The station is owned by Sonshine Family Television. WBPH-TV's studios are located in Allentown, and its transmitter is located on South Mountain in Salisbury Township.
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) is the premier rodeo event by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). The NFR showcases the talents of the PRCA's top 15 money winners in the season for each event.
The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). The PRCA is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States.
RFD-TV is an American pay television channel owned by Rural Media Group, Inc. The channel features programming devoted to rural issues, concerns and interests. The channel's name is a reference to Rural Free Delivery, the name for the United States Postal Service's system of delivering mail directly to rural patrons. Production and uplinking facilities for RFD-TV are located at 49 Music Square West, Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. RFD-TV's sister radio channel is Rural Radio on Sirius XM. RFD-TV formerly owned a theater in Branson, Missouri where some variety shows that air on RFD-TV were filmed, as well as the Imus Ranch in Ribera, New Mexico.
Larry Mahan was an American professional rodeo cowboy. He won six all-around world championships and two bull riding world championships in the Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit at the National Finals Rodeo.
Russell "Red" Steagall is an American actor, musician, poet, and stage performer, who focuses on American Western and country music genres.
Spectrum Sports was a network of regional sports cable television stations serving much of the upstate New York area. The stations, which were owned and operated by Charter Communications through its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in May 2016, were available in Rochester, Binghamton, Syracuse and Buffalo. The network broadcast a variety of local college and minor league sports games and was the de facto successor to the Buffalo-based Empire Sports Network. Unlike most regional sports networks, Spectrum Sports was never available on satellite television, nor was it available in areas of upstate that are served by companies other than Charter Spectrum/Time Warner Cable.
The National Christian Network was a religious television network in the United States which formed in 1979. The channel was founded by Ray A. Kassis and located in Cocoa, Florida, where it owned studios. The programming was originated from Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant groups; at the time of launch 54 separate groups had shown interest. The network was the fourth satellite-fed Christian network to be launched, and was a competitor to the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the PTL Satellite Network, and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television.
Cozi TV is an American free-to-air television network owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The network airs classic television series from the 1960s to the 2000s.
Get is an American digital multicast television network owned by the network television division of Sony Pictures Television. Originally known as GetTV from 2014 until its rebranding in 2023, the network was initially formatted as a movie-oriented service, and over time transitioned into a general entertainment network featuring primarily classic television shows from the 1960s through the 2000s.
Grit is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network features classic westerns, both TV series and films.
Little Britches Rodeo is a non-fiction television series produced by Hodge Media Group for RFD-TV. It portrays the real life events during National Little Britches Rodeo Association Finals. This western lifestyle documents the lives of rodeo contestants and rodeo competition from the Finals. In addition, it features interviews with PRCA World Champions, contestants, parents, rodeo personal, and some of the industry leaders in agriculture, horse industry, and rodeo.
Wanda Harper Bush was an American professional rodeo cowgirl. She competed in the Girl's Rodeo Association (GRA), now known as the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), and won two barrel racing world championships, in 1952 and 1953. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 1978 and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017. The August 2017 induction ceremony was ProRodeo's 38th annual event, and marked the first time in the event's history that the class of inductees included barrel racers from the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA).
The Cowboy Channel Canada is a Canadian English language licence-exempted specialty channel broadcasting programming dedicated to western sports and the western lifestyle airing programs such as rodeo, bull riding, team roping, reining, barrel racing, and other western sports genres, along with western fashion, music, and movies. The channel is owned by Ryan Kohler through Wild TV Inc.
RFD-TV Canada is a Canadian English language licence-exempted Category B specialty channel broadcasting programming focused on the agribusiness, equine and the rural lifestyles, along with traditional country music and entertainment. The channel is owned by Ryan Kohler through Wild TV Inc.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)