Great American Country
- "GAC" redirects here. For other uses of this three-letter abbreviation, see Gac (disambiguation).
| Great American Country | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Launched | December 31, 1995 |
| Owned by | Scripps Networks Interactive |
| Headquarters | Knoxville, Tennessee, United States |
| Sister channel(s) | Cooking Channel DIY Network Food Network HGTV Travel Channel |
| Website | http://www.gactv.com |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Selective TV Inc. (Alexandria, Minnesota) |
K55ID (Channel 55) |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 326 |
| Dish Network | Channel 167 |
| Cable | |
| Available on many cable systems | Check local listings for channels |
| Verizon FiOS | Channel 223 |
Great American Country (or GAC), is a Knoxville, Tennessee-based[1] country music cable television network.
Contents |
[edit] History
The channel launched December 31, 1995 with Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" as the first video.[2]
Scripps Networks acquired GAC from Centennial, Colorado-based Jones Radio Network on October 12, 2004. Scripps Networks, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, also owns popular lifestyle-oriented chanels HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. The company was spun off from The E. W. Scripps Company in July 2008.
In addition to country music videos, Great American Country features original programming, special musical performances and live concerts.
Great American Country has been one of the fastest-growing cable networks for the past three years, and is available in more than 58 million U.S. households via cable and satellite. In late 2005, Broadcasting & Cable, an industry trade publication, named GAC as one of TV's "Breakout Networks"[3] heading into 2006, saying of the channel: "The emerging GAC is a younger, hipper version that respects Nashville's country roads but widens the boulevards."
The channel's popularity is helped by competing network CMT's declining reliance on regular music video blocks except in the mornings and moving towards programming or acquired programming which may or may not have any connection to southern culture, much less country music.[original research?] Great American Country continues showing music videos in the afternoon and evening hours, and keeps its other programming limited to shows that pertain to country music. In a sense, CMT Pure Country, and to a lesser extent, Gospel Music Channel and RFD-TV, could be considered the pure rivals to GAC in regards to their programming format.[original research?]
AT&T U-verse dropped Food Network, Cooking Channel, HGTV, DIY Network and Great American Country on November 5, 2010 due to a carriage dispute.[4] Two days later, however, the carriage dispute was resolved.[5][6]
[edit] Programming
[edit] GAC Nights: Live From Nashville
Great American Country and ABC Radio Networks (now Cumulus Media) formed a partnership to produce a nightly radio show called GAC Nights: Live From Nashville hosted by Suzanne Alexander, and co-hosted by Storme Warren, and Nan Kelley. It was broadcast from its studios at Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The show ran from 2007 to 2009, when it was canceled.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ "Scripps-Howard FAQ". Scripps-Howard. http://www.scrippsnetworks.com/faq.aspx. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
- ^ The Official Garth Brooks Website
- ^ Hot & Happening: Breakout Networks - 31 October 2005 - Broadcasting & Cable
- ^ AT&T's U-verse Drops Food Network, HGTV and Other Scripps Networks, Chicago Tribune, November 5, 2010
- ^ Food Network, HGTV, Back on U-verse, Chicago Tribune, November 7, 2010
- ^ AT&T U-verse, Scripps Reconnect on Carriage Contract, MultiChannel News, November 7, 2010
[edit] External links
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