 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United States |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Rural Media Group, Inc. |
| Sister channels | Rural Radio Channel 147 on SirusXM |
| History | |
| Launched | December 1, 2000; 24 years ago (2000-12-01) |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Digital terrestrial television | 36.1 (Redwood Falls, Minnesota) 22.1 (Cortez, Colorado)[1] |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | RFD-TV Now,Sling TV |
RFD-TV is an Americanpay 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 toRural Free Delivery, the name for theUnited 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 inNashville,Tennessee. RFD-TV's sister radio channel is Rural Radio onSirius XM.[2] RFD-TV formerly owned a theater inBranson, Missouri, where some variety shows that air on RFD-TV were filmed; the station also owned theImus Ranch inRibera, New Mexico.[3][4]
RFD-TV is the flagship network for Rural Media Group. Launched in December 2000, RFD-TV is the nation's first 24-hour television network featuring programming focused on theagribusiness, equine and the rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment.
As of 2017, RFD-TV operates on afull-service format. Mornings and the early part of daytime feature syndicated newsmagazines and a five-hour block of news, weather (forecasting services on the network are outsourced toThe Weather Channel) and agricultural commodity market prices, in the basic format of anAmerican cable news outlet. An additional newscast airs during the evening hours. The remainder of the daytime and evening schedule consists of horse-related magazines, coverage ofrodeo and other Western sports, rural lifestyle programs,reruns of classic television programs with rural appeal, and music programs centered aroundcountry music,polka, andSouthern gospel.
Infomercials, which were previously publicly banned from the network, appear during the overnight hours. The network also featuresbrokered programming in the form of its call-in programRural America Live, and brokeredtelevangelism fromCharles Stanley,David Jeremiah andJohn Hagee.
As of February 2015, RFD-TV is available to approximately 52 million pay television households (44.8% of households with television) in the United States.[5] It is currently carried by satellite providersDish Network andDirecTV and their associated streaming services (Sling TV andDirecTV Stream, respectively), as well as through cable providers such asMediacom,Charter Communications,Cox Communications andArmstrong.[6][7] In addition to its subscription coverage, RFD-TV is offered as anInternet television feed; the feed is currentlypaywalled and requires a paying subscription. In March 2020, RFD-TV launched a streaming app RFD-TV Now, making RFD-TV programming available on tablets, phones, and connected TVs.[8] It was added toSling TV on April 4, 2017, as part of the "Heartland Extra" add-on service.[9] With an average of 136,000 viewers in 2016, RFD-TV has some of the highest viewership relative to availability compared to other "ultra-niche" networks with similar or wider distribution owned by major corporations.[10]
RFD-TV (Rural Free Delivery Television) was launched in 1988 byPatrick Gottsch. The channel was not picked up by any carriers.[11] This attempt ended in bankruptcy. Another attempt was made in the 1990s, but could not get funding.[12] Gottsch continued to look for programming.[11] Beginning in 2000, the channel was a non-profit.[13] RFD-TV was picked up by Dish Network in December 2000[14] then DirecTV in 2002.[13] It was initially launched as a nonprofit channel, using a loophole in federal regulations to encourage the two satellite providers to pick up the channel by carryingeducational and informational content, an idea originally suggested by Dish Network.[15] The Federal Communications Commission struck down this effort in 2007 due to the channel's reliance on commercial television content.[16] The channel was then restructured as a for-profit enterprise, for which it rented a Nashville studio and hired experienced TV executives including Ed Frazier, former Liberty Sports CEO.[12]
RFD-TV was initially conceived as effectively four channels in one space: an agriculture channel, a horse channel, a rural music and entertainment channel, and a rural lifestyle channel, relying mainly on existing programming from thesyndicated market to fill its broadcast day.[15] The acquisition ofImus in the Morning in 2007 after over a decade onMSNBC was designed to retain its satellite carriage after the FCC ruling as well as convince additional cable providers to add RFD-TV to its channel lineups.[17][18]Imus left forFox Business Network in 2009.[19]
RFD-HD, ahigh definition feed of RFD-TV that broadcasts in the1080i resolution format, first began broadcasting in high definition in the fall of 2007.[20]
In mid-2009, the channel gained carriage on Cox Cable. RFD began a rural news department in late 2009 with bureaus in London and Washington, DC.[12]
Rural Media contracted with Sony Pictures Television in September 2013 to handle RFD-TV's and other properties' national ad sale.[14] By August 2014, Rural Media Group began moving its Northstar Studio/RFD-TV staff and some of its Omaha, Nebraska staff into subleased office space at 49 Music Square West,Music Row inNashville, Tennessee. The rest of the Omaha staff would follow in 2015 except Gottsch.[21]
In the 2016 presidential election, theTrump campaign purchased all possible advertising spots in the last two weeks before the election. By January 2017, the channel opened a bureau inSao Paulo, Brazil, to coverBrazil's growingagriculture industry, which is heavily interconnected to the United States through companies like Brazil'sJBS.[22]
ACanadian version of the channel was launched on February 1, 2020, on Shaw Direct television systems through a partnership with Rural Media.[23]
WhenDon Imus returned to radio in late 2007, he had also struck a deal to simulcastImus in the Morning on RFD-TV after moving toWABC for the rest of his career. The program was broadcast on the channel from 6 to 9 a.m.Eastern Time on weekdays, along with a primetime telecast of the program on its high definition simulcast channel RFD-HD. During much of the show's run, a news ticker was shown with the day's news, similar to that featuring whenImus in the Morning was simulcast onMSNBC. The video simulcast of the program ended its run on RFD-TV on August 28, 2009, and moved toFox Business Network several weeks later.[24]
After Imus's retirement, RFD-TV owner Patrick Gottsch purchasedImus's 3,000-acre ranch.[3]
One of the first programs to be aired on RFD-TV wasThe Big Joe Polka Show, apolka and dance variety program hosted by Omaha resident Joseph "Big Joe" Siedlik, which continued to be popular among the network's estimated (approximately) 40 million+ available households until it ended its run on January 1, 2011. In 2010, litigation commenced between RFD-TV andThe Big Joe Polka Show's creators/producers of Polka Cassettes of Nebraska, involving several lawsuits and countersuits (mostly over a contractual dispute). RFD-TV contends that it had an option to air the program until December 31, 2010, while Polka Cassettes of Nebraska contends that the show was being aired against their wishes, and after cessation of the effectiveness of the previous contract, which expired on December 31, 2009. In August 2010, a multimillion-dollar "slander and defamation" suit was brought against Polka Cassettes of Nebraska by RFD-TV.[25] In 2011, the court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed RFD-TV's lawsuit as being without merit.[26] In January 2015, Joseph "Big Joe" Siedlik died.[27][28][29]
The show was replaced byThe RFD-TV Polka Fest on January 5, 2011, and aired during the same timeslots.RFD-TV Polka Fest was later replaced byMollie B Polka Party, hosted by Mollie Busta in July 2011. Wednesday afternoons, starting in September 2015 featured selected reruns of theBig Joe Polka Show under the nameBig Joe Polka Classics.
Other programs added in Winter 2007-2008 included a revival ofCrook & Chase (which returned toTNN [nowHeartland] upon its relaunch in 2012) andBluegrass & Backroads.[30]
Greg Peterson "Machinery Pete" half-hour show averages 125,000+[31] viewers weekly on RFD-TV. "Machinery Pete" is the brand name to the business ofGreg Peterson[32], who is an expert on data within researching and tracking[33] machinery auction prices since 1989. Expertise within the farmers and dealers to look at and estimate the value on used farm equipment and the real value at auction.[34] Greg Peterson was quoted in November 2021 inBloomberg news regarding how much over the estimate a sale went.[35]Crain's Chicago Business also[36] referenced "Machinery Pete" on the booming records in Farm Machinery Auction Pricing in 2021 as did theWatertown Daily Times[37] andThe Packer.[38][39] "As harvest ends, we will see farmers at equipment auctions, not for the machinery - but for parts," Peterson said. "We're already hearing from guys talking about buying a second planter or sprayer, just for parts."Machinery Pete" Greg Peterson as quoted byReuters in October 2021. As of November 2021, Machinery Pete has 47,100 subscribers onYouTube.
Greg Peterson is fromBenson, Minnesota, and attendedGustavus Adolphus College inSt. Peter, Minnesota. starting "Machinery Pete" back in 1989 out of his basement inRochester, Minnesota buying a small company for $2,600[40] that had a subscription service for prices that followed auction prices. A traditional book was mailed out four times a year to a customer base before the age of theInternet. Later on "Machinery Pete" used computers to compile Used Values Index reports. These reports painted a larger and complete picture of the value of farm and construction equipment.
"Machinery Pete" launched his website over 20 years ago[41]machinerypete.com, followed by aFacebook page for a global audience since for the last 25 plus years "Machinery Pete" has been covering farm equipment auctions for various industry magazines and trade journals.
In 2021,[42] "Machinery Pete" had over 40Apple Podcasts.[43][44]
Greg Peterson has been covering farm equipment auctions for various industry magazines for more than 25 years and did the same during six seasons of RFD'sMachinery Show. Now Peterson has his own show, which shares its title with his nickname: "Machinery Pete." Each episode features Peterson traveling to a farm machinery auction, where he meets some of the people who attend the sales where items like tractors and skid steers are sold. He also provides his analysis of current and historical trends in the used equipment market and answers viewers' questions about what their equipment is worth in the "Ask Machinery Pete" segment.
Peterson's show,Machinery Pete TV, is offered in syndication throughFarm Journal (also syndicator ofAgDay andU.S. Farm Report) in addition to its RFD run; he also contributes to those shows as an interviewee.
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The following programs were aired on RFD-TV at one point, but are no longer listed on the official website.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 1988; 37 years ago (1988) |
| Founder | Patrick Gottsch |
| Headquarters | 49 Music Square West,Music Row,, US |
| Subsidiaries |
|
Rural Media Group is a media holding company.
RFD-TV (Rural Free Delivery Television) was launched in 1988 by Patrick Gottsch but was not picked up until 2000. The group expanded with the RFD-TV: The Magazine in 2003 then RFD HD in 2008.[11]
Rural Media Group bought the Country Tonite/Ray Stevens Theater with 2000 seats inBranson, Missouri, and renamed it the RFD-TV Theatre on March 24, 2007.[47][4]
A British version, Rural TV, was launched in 2008,[12] followed by a US launch on February 15, 2012, onDish Network. Rural focused on news and international programming.[48] In October 2012, Rural Media purchased from Interactive Television and Gaming Networks (formerly Comstar Media) FamilyNet. The two channels would combine on January 1, 2013.[49]
Rural Media contracted with Sony Pictures Television in September 2013 to handle national ad sales for RFD-TV, Rural TV and Rural Radio.[14] By August 2014, Rural Media Group began moving its Northstar Studio staff and some of its Omaha, Nebraska staff into subleased office space at 49 Music Square West,Music Row inNashville, Tennessee. The rest of the Omaha staff would follow in 2015 except Gottsch. At the same time, RMG Events LLC was formed and headed by RMG CEORandy Bernard to run RMG events such asThe American Rodeo.[21]
FamilyNet was changed over to a western lifestyle network on July 1, 2017, tapping RFD-TV programming to start. This was the original plan for FamilyNet, but seeming limited programming and interest, Gottsch held off. With RFD-TV drawing more viewers for its western programming and events like rodeos, the switch was made. Thus,The Cowboy Channel was launched.[50]
Rural Media Group in early 2018 purchased the Imus Ranch, near Santa Fe, as a television production base for its two TV channels' programs.Best of America by Horseback,Debbie Dunning’s Dude Ranch Round-Up, andGentle Giants were programs selected to film there starting in March 2019.[51]
The Cowgirl Channel was launched on March 1, 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.[52]
Patrick Gottsch, the founder and president of RFD-TV and Rural Media Group, died on May 18, 2024, at the age of 70.[53] He was succeeded in leadership of Rural Media Group by his two eldest daughters, Raquel Gottsch Koehler and Gatsby Gottsch Solheim.[54]
On November 20, 2024, Teton Ridge announced it had acquired The Cowboy Channel, The Cowgirl Channel, and their companion streaming service, Cowboy Channel+, from Rural Media Group.[55] RMG Co-Owner Raquel Gottsch Koehler addressed the sale of the two rodeo networks in a statement following the sale:[56]
"For Rural Media Group, this sale allows us to strategically refresh and focus on our flagship network,RFD-TV, as it approaches its 25th anniversary, with the goal to expand our presence across multiple platforms. We will now be able to strengthen our programming and dig deeper into our core mission to reconnect city with country, bringing stories of agriculture, rural life, conservation, and land stewardship to more people than ever before along with an expansion in music and entertainment, as Rural Media Group will continue operating the Auction Barn Studio in the historicFort Worth Stockyards in addition to its studios onMusic Row in Nashville, Tennessee. This sale is about growth and investing in RFD-TV,RFD-TV Now, Rural Radio Channel 147 onSiriusXM, andFarmHER +RanchHER, growing our presence in the rural media space to tell even more stories about America’s heartland and beyond."