Rural Radio channel 80 will be the ultimate destination for the rural lifestyle, agribusiness news, outdoor living, western sports, and rural-themed entertainment. The 24/7 channel will be the exclusive home of original radio programming dedicated to the needs and interests of rural America, featuring live coverage of professional bull riders’ events and other western sports.
Omaha, Neb.and New York-June 26, 2013- Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and Rural Radio, L.L.C. today announced the creation of Rural Radio, a 24/7 channel devoted to providing a wide variety of programming for and about rural American life, the western lifestyle, and agribusiness interests.Â
Rural Radio, channel 80, will give SiriusXM listeners all over America, whether driving a tractor cab equipped with satellite radio or driving in city commuter traffic, an unprecedented connection to the rural community. Rural Radio will broadcast original programming for rural audiences exclusively for SiriusXM that spans commodity market reporting, lifestyle programming, original and classic entertainment, and western sports, such as rodeo and bull riding.
Every weekday, Rural Radio will deliver extensive information for the rural community in North America, including rural news, weather, and market reports during weekday hours as grain, livestock and other commodity futures are being traded globally. Traders can tune in directly to reports from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Rural Radio will also include audio from many of RFD-TV’s most popular shows focusing on rural news, crop and agriculture reports, and up to the minute analysis that farm and agriculture producers need to make decisions, as well as light-hearted fare, such as the weekly Mollie B Polka Show and classic episodes and interviews from The Ralph Emery Show.
Rural Radio launches July 15 on Channel 80, and there will be an official launch celebration August 3, with an all-day event to be held at the finish line of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which will include an attempt to set the Guinness World Record for a Parade of Pickup Trucks on the historic track, with all their radios tuned to SiriusXM channel 80.
Rural Radio’s broadcast operations will be based in Nashville, Tennessee along with Rural Media Group, Inc., (RMG). Corporate offices, sales, and marketing will be headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. A complete broadcast program schedule will be made available on or before July 15, 2013 at www.facebook.com/RURALRADIO80 and on Twitter @RURALRADIO80.
“SiriusXM’s unparalleled programming and easy-to-use technology has been embraced by rural consumers in their cars, pickups, tractors and combines throughout North America,” said Patrick Gottsch, Founder of Rural Media Group, Inc. and Rural Radio, LLC. “Rural Radio is designed to fill the growing demand for more rural content that is being ignored by urban-based broadcasters. I want to publicly thank the SiriusXM executives for seeing this opportunity and stepping up to fill this void. Rural Radio will be a strong asset to the powerful SiriusXM lineup.”
“Rural Media Group has a proven track record of offering great programming for rural Americans and those drawn to the western lifestyle,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. “In growing SiriusXM’s diverse programming lineup, we are excited to join with Rural Media Group to super-serve the rural audience, thereby further ensuring that SiriusXM, with its truly nationwide coverage, delivers the best audio content for listeners everywhere in America, from city skyscrapers to small towns and farms, from the Super Bowl to rodeos, from Wall Street to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).”
Rural Radio’s program schedule will provide a wide variety of original productions focused on agriculture, equine, hunting, fishing, western sports and living the country life in small towns and on acreages.
Veteran farm broadcasters Mark Oppold and Janet Adkison, the current and incoming presidents of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) will anchor three daily, weekday shows-Commodity Wrap, Rural Evening News and Market Day Report, a live 5-hour daily program featuring reports from dedicated news bureaus located at the CME, Chicago Board of Trade, as well as from USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Additional daily ag-related programming will be provided through RMG’s strong affiliations with the leaders in rural America, including: Farm Journal Media, owners of AGDAY, U.S. Farm Report and AGRITALK, Meredith Corporation’s Living The Country Life, various state farm bureaus, and Ag PhD featuring the Hefty Brothers of South Dakota.
Equine enthusiasts will enjoy Horse Talk, a daily, one-hour call-in program that will showcase the leading clinicians and horse associations, and air live coverage from major horse shows that take place all around the world. Vets on Call, another interactive program, will be underwritten by Zoetis Animal Health, who will make its top veterinarians available to answer listener questions and calls on-air.
Western Sports will occupy a large block of programming on Rural Radio in late afternoon, in early evening hours, and throughout the weekends with the Western Sports Roundup (WSR). Hosted by Clint Adkins and Alexis Bloomer, WSR will cover Professional Bull Riding (PBR) and the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) events by interviewing the stars of each association and providing standings. WSR will also cover and offer results from all western sports including cutting, reining, roping, barrel racing and both professional and amateur level bronc-riding, including High School & College Rodeo news, as well as Little Britches and Junior High competitions.
“SiriusXM’s coast-to-coast coverage gives us the ability to reach listeners nationwide. The line-up of programming we’ve developed and accumulated for this launch solidifies and expands our brand across North America. Rural is a way of life, and Rural Radio means listeners can tune into it from anywhere at any time,” said Randy Bernard, President/CEO, Rural Media Group, Inc.
For more information, visit www.siriusxm.com/ruralradio
