Great American Country cable network relocating to Nashville
GAC — acquired by media company E.W. Scripps Co. from Jones Media Networks for $140 million last November — is the latest addition to Scripps Networks, which operates the national programming networks Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living.
A 24-hour country music video network which began in 1996, GAC “had to be in the heart of country music,” said Ken Lowe, Scripps CEO and president, who made the announcement at a morning news conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame. GAC’s programming includes live broadcasts from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.
Cincinnati-based Scripps operates 21 daily newspapers, 10 broadcast TV stations, Scripps Howard News Service, United Media and Shopzilla.com. Most of its cable networks are based in Knoxville, Tenn., where it also owns The Knoxville News Sentinel.
A media company founded on newspapers in 1878, Scripps cable TV is becoming the greatest avenue of growth, surpassing its broadcast TV units and newspapers. Scripps Networks earned about $723 million in total revenue for fiscal year 2004 while newspapers pulled in $704 million, according to George Sakellaris, an analyst with Baltimore-based Garp Research.
Sakellaris said GAC is not expected to be a huge moneymaker for Scripps, which saw HGTV bring in just over $375 million in ad revenue and network affiliated fees last year while Food Network had $295 million. Sakellaris estimates GAC will likely bring in about $15 million this year.
“The plan for GAC was this sort of quick turnaround,” Sakellaris said. “They felt they could buy the station and leverage their relationship with a lot of their existing cable operators and advertisers. I think they felt they could easily improve ad revenues and profitability of GAC without changing it that much.
“It’s a really logical choice to have it (GAC) based out of there (Nashville),” which is home to country music and GAC’s more entrenched competitor, Country Music Television Inc.
Ed Hardy, president of GAC, said during the news conference the network will continue its focus on music videos, with plans to play about 1,100 more a month. Hardy said GAC is also introducing six shows this month.
Scripps executives said GAC’s move is expected to be complete by October and will result in about 1,000 jobs for the Nashville area. GAC temporarily will move into refurbished office space on Music Row, the center of Nashville’s music industry, until a larger permanent spot is found for the network headquarters.
“Continuing economic growth requires both recruitment of new companies and expansion of existing businesses,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen, who spoke during the news conference. “Today’s announcement is a combination of both.”
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