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. Rural Media Group bought the Country Tonite/Ray Stevens Theater with 2000 seats in Branson and renamed the RFD-TV Theatre on March 24, 2007. A British version, Rural TV, was launched in 2008 followed by a US launch on February 15, 2012 on Dish. Rural focused on news and international programming. 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. Rural Media contracted with Sony Pictures Television in September 2013 to handle national ad sales for RFD-TV, Rural TV and Rural Radio. 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 in Nashville, 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 CEO Randy Bernard to run RMG events like RFD-TV's The American rodeo. FamilyNet was changed over to a western lifestyle channel 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. 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, and Gentle Giants'' were programs selected to film there starting in March 2019. References External links Television networks in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2000 Rural culture in the United States Agricultural television stations English-language television stations in the United States Companies based in Omaha, Nebraska