The Cowboy Channel
| The Cowboy Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 1979 |
| Owned by | Rural Media Group |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Formerly called |
|
| Replaced | Rural TV |
| Sister channel(s) | RFD-TV |
| Website | Official website |
|
Availability
|
|
| Satellite | |
| Dish Network | 232 (SD) |
| Cable | |
| Available on some cable providers | Check local listings for channel number |
| IPTV | |
| Verizon FiOS | 246 (SD) |
| AT&T U-verse | 566 (SD) |
| Streaming media | |
| Sling TV | Internet Protocol television |
The Cowboy Channel (formerly FamilyNet) is an American cable television network in over 25 million cable and satellite homes, which carries Western and rodeo sports. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took the name FamilyNet in 1988 under the ownership of Jerry Falwell. It is owned by Rural Media Group, which also owns RFD-TV.
The channel was acquired by InTouch Ministries in October 2007 from the Southern Baptist Convention. In December 2009, FamilyNet was acquired by Robert A. Schuller's ComStar Media Fund. In 2010, FamilyNet was spun out into its own company, with Robert A. Schuller as the chairman.
The organization also operated FamilyNet Radio 161, a full-time Christian talk channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, but was discontinued on November 30, 2010; FamilyTalk replaced it.
From 2011 to 2012, the channel showed sitcoms like The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, and Mr. Belvedere.
On October 24, 2012, Rural TV purchased FamilyNet, and the transaction took effect on January 1, 2013. At first the network was used to carry an all-trading day format of farm and market news, which eventually moved to a reduced timeslot on RFD-TV due to low interest and ratings. Rural Media, which had considered merging RFD-TV and FamilyNet together to gain over-the-air carriage, eventually decided to keep FamilyNet as a separate service, but with a refocus in programming towards classic television programming which was not picked up by competitors MeTV, Antenna TV and Cozi TV. Rural Media also decided not to renew over-the-air contracts with stations in a slow process which will eventually see FamilyNet become a cable-only service.
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Wikipedia