Great American Country

"GAC" redirects here. For other uses of this three-letter abbreviation, see Gac (disambiguation).

Great American Country
GAC Logo
Launched	December 31, 1995
Owned by	Scripps Networks Interactive
Headquarters	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Sister channel(s)	HGTV Food Network DIY Network Fine Living Travel Channel
Website	www.gactv.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 326
Dish Network	Channel 167
Cable
Available on many cable systems	Check local listings for channels

Great American Country (or GAC), is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network. The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC.^[1]

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 and Fine Living. The company was spun off from The E. W. Scripps Company in July 2008.

In addition to country music videos, GAC features original programming, special musical performances and live concerts.

First Great American Country logo

GAC has been one of the fastest-growing cable networks for the past three years, and is currently available in more than 56,000,000 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"^[2] 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. GAC 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.

Programming

Radio Show

Great American Country and ABC Radio Networks 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 is broadcast from their studios at Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee.

References

1. ^ The Official Garth Brooks Website
2. ^ Hot & Happening: Breakout Networks - 10/31/2005 - Broadcasting & Cable

External links

• Official Site