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Discovery sells Great American Country

All I see on there is shows such as Flea Market Flip, when I'm able to get a preview of it on Direct TV. Hope the new owners will do something spectacular with it. Not holding my breath but anything is possible.​

Dan <><
 
This channel has been in search of a theme since Jones sold it. Under Scripps, it became a more rural version of HGTV. Under Discovery, I truthfully haven't watched it at all.

Tom Hicks has been responsible for a lot of bad deals over the years. I'm not hopeful about this one. Their first job will be to come up with some content. RIDE TV is a channel about horses. This seems to fit, so we'll see what happens.
 
I wonder how many households GAC is carried in ... It's probably been 25 years since I saw it on a cable lineup.
 
I wonder how many households GAC is carried in ... It's probably been 25 years since I saw it on a cable lineup.
GAC has been on Comcast in Houston for many years now, but it’s a channel I’ve never paid any attention to.

Perusing the program listings, all I see are binge lineups of five shows: Going RV, Lakefront Bargain Hunt, My Lottery Dream Home, Log Cabin Fever, and Flea Market Flip.

Perhaps the new owner is mostly interested in a distribution pipeline and will launch something entirely different.

Don’t think I’ve ever been consciously aware of the existence of Ride TV until this announcement.
 
Perhaps the new owner is mostly interested in a distribution pipeline and will launch something entirely different.

The new company seems particularly interested in this brand name, since he has named his acquisition company GAC Media. I suspect he will have to come up with new content since all of the current programming is produced within the Discovery system. This channel was once a smaller competitor to CMT. Now of course even CMT does very little music programming. There is more country music programming on RFD than other channels.

 
Yes, there's vague language about different "genres," but you'd think if country music (or any kind of music) were part of the new "vision" for GAC, that would have been mentioned.

By the way, since we no longer will have a "Great American Country" to refer to, are we supposed to pronounce these new networks "Gee-Ay-Cee Family/Living" or "Gack Family/Living"? I think "gack!" is pretty close to my reaction to all this, so that's what I'll be going with.
 
Yes, there's vague language about different "genres," but you'd think if country music (or any kind of music) were part of the new "vision" for GAC, that would have been mentioned.

What I hear a lot about these music video channels parallels what I hear about radio: People want to pick and choose what they hear, they don't want someone else picking the music they hear or see. Long form music shows, such as concerts or documentaries about musicians, are expensive to make and don't attract much of an audience. So all of these channels, from MTV to CMT to now GAC, are going more for the lifestyle focus.

Since this new CEO comes from Hallmark, it wouldn't surprise me if he starts making movies with country stars in them. Last year I saw a Christmas movie with 90s country star Deana Carter. I know a lot of country stars have tried acting. So it may become a thing on GAC Family.
 
What I hear a lot about these music video channels parallels what I hear about radio: People want to pick and choose what they hear, they don't want someone else picking the music they hear or see. Long form music shows, such as concerts or documentaries about musicians, are expensive to make and don't attract much of an audience. So all of these channels, from MTV to CMT to now GAC, are going more for the lifestyle focus.
Another diginet, Circle, looks to be the only player in the country music space now. Of course, that's a Grand Ole Opry property, so it serves the same purpose as WSM(AM). So long as tourists keep coming (or returning, whenever the virus is done with us) to Nashville and checking out the Opry, the museum and Opryland, the money invested in programming is well spent. A network playing music videos and old concerts only helps sell product for the record companies or tickets for the artists, none of whom have any financial stake in the network.
 
Another diginet, Circle, looks to be the only player in the country music space now. Of course, that's a Grand Ole Opry property, so it serves the same purpose as WSM(AM).

They're the same people who originally invested in TNN. They've basically revived the old model. Only thing missing is Ralph Emery. But they're doing a lot of artist hosted shows, with a lot of 90s artists like Clint Black hosting shows. I saw where they aired the ACM Honors last week.

It's like you say, they're using the channel to promote a lot of Gaylord properties, from hotels to restaurants to museums. That was a great business model for them a long time ago.
 
All I see on there is shows such as Flea Market Flip, when I'm able to get a preview of it on Direct TV. Hope the new owners will do something spectacular with it. Not holding my breath but anything is possible.​

Dan <><
What type of programming do you thing would make it spectacular?
 
At this point, there's really nothing that needs to be covered on TV. Everything that could be done is already being catered to. Maybe Mr. Ted Turner was right all along. He once said that we would have way too many Cable/Satellite Networks with very limited programming choices. I believe we're at that moment now. To be honest, I don't know what needs to be aired on here. If what they're doing now is working, then leave it alone.

Dan <><​
 
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