PRCA and The
Cowboy Channel Agree to Landmark TV Deal
Today, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Rural
Media Group (RMG) announced a multi-year agreement which will see the
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) move to The Cowboy Channel (TCC) and
RFD-TV beginning in 2020. The ultimate annual rodeo event will now be seen
by millions of people live simultaneously on two national TV networks. Also
included in the deal is a wide variety of other PRCA programming, including
expanded live coverage of the PRORODEO TOUR and the PRCA’s Xtreme Bulls
Tour events which will result in a huge increase in the amount,
availability and quality of PRCA PRORODEO coverage on The Cowboy Channel,
including:
·
All
10 nights of the NFR live, and a new East Coast Prime Time encore airing
the next day
·
Live
coverage of at least 18 PRORODEO TOUR final performances each year plus a
taped highlight show for encore airings on both The Cowboy Channel and
RFD-TV
·
TV
coverage of 10 episodes of PRCA’s Xtreme Bulls, including the Xtreme Bulls
Tour Finale with encore airings on both TCC and RFD-TV.
·
Extended
pre- and post-coverage of the NFR each night (RODEO LAS VEGAS)
·
A
new weekly pro rodeo studio show, PRORODEO Tonight
·
Heightened
event production across all events, including the use of Sky Cam
·
Enhanced
fan experiences through programming that highlights the uniqueness of local
rodeo communities, their organizing committees, and the charities they
support, plus special access to the PRCA athletes and other PRCA members
whose contributions are key to the sport of PRORODEO
·
New
national coverage of PRCA PRORODEO on one of the major broadcast networks
will be announced at a later date
“This is a huge
milestone in the growth of the PRCA,” PRCA CEO George Taylor said. “Never
before has PRORODEO assumed the prime placement and coverage that will be
seen under this deal. Our hats are off to Patrick Gottsch and his family,
the owners of Rural Media Group, for their enthusiastic interest, support
and devotion to our sport.”
“We are so proud and
excited to partner with the PRCA, the rodeo committees, and of course all
the PRCA cowboys & cowgirls to aggressively produce and distribute
original programming that will support rodeo 365 days-a-year, on networks
that are totally dedicated to serving and expanding the western sports
community,” stated Patrick Gottsch, Founder & President of Rural Media
Group, Inc. “There is a Golf Channel, the NFL Network, a baseball
network, a tennis channel, and so on. Now rodeo has its own
channel(s). RMG plans to do everything for rodeo and the PRCA that
these other media partnerships have done for their sports.”
The deal will begin
early in 2020 and will be preceded with the launch of the weekly PRORODEO
Tonight show on The Cowboy Channel. The PRCA regular-season coverage on
The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV is planned to begin in January. The finals of
each televised PRORODEO TOUR event will be shown live on The Cowboy Channel
and will be seen in taped highlight form later in the week in prime time
and weekend afternoons on RFD-TV. Regular-season coverage also will include
10 episodes of the PRCA’s Xtreme Bulls series, each with multiple runs
across day parts. The coverage will be a co-production of PRCA and RMG.
NFR programming for
2020 will start with a 24-hour marathon of prior NFR finals, leading up to
a red-carpet pre-event show, and the live NFR simulcast on both RFD-TV and
The Cowboy Channel for 10 straight nights. Each episode of NFR coverage
will conclude with a one-hour post-event show. Replays of each episode of
the NFR will take place the next day on both networks, including in East
Coast and West Coast Prime Time.
“Our new
state-of-the-art studio in the Fort Worth Stockyards will serve as the base
for producing the daily PRCA programming, leading up to and culminating
each year with the National Finals Rodeo,” added The Cowboy Channel CEO
Raquel Gottsch. “The massive volume of programming expected to be generated
from this 6-year agreement will serve to populate both The Cowboy Channel
and RFD-TV with original, un-duplicated ‘live’ sports-related content which
is very much desired by all cable, satellite, and distribution
companies. We expect our distribution to grow substantially as a
result.”
The networks are
seen in a combined 94 million US TV homes. One or both are distributed by
DISH, DIRECTV, Comcast, Spectrum, Cox, Sling, Verizon, AT&T, Mediacom,
Suddenlink, AT&T Now and Roku.
“We expect a
significant increase in the viewing of PRCA programming as a result of this
groundbreaking new deal,” Taylor said. “This is one of the most exciting
moments during my time leading the PRCA.” ~ PRCA Media
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