Commentary
In Memoriam: Patrick Gottsch, The 'Ted Turner' Of Rural Television
- by Ed DeNicola , Op-Ed Contributor, May 21, 2024
That is how I would describe Patrick Gottsch, a pioneer in the field of rural TV, who died Saturday at the age of 70.
Patrick was my client a couple of decades ago when I worked for The Nielsen Company. He had started RFD-TV and was looking into having it rated.
For anyone who isn’t aware, RFD-TV stands for Rural Free Delivery Television. It’s a 24-hour rural television network that airs agribusiness, equine and rural lifestyle content.
The service had first launched on Dish and later expanded its distribution to DirecTV as well as many cable operators including Mediacom, Charter, Optimum, Suddenlink, Comcast, AT&T/U-verse, Time Warner Cable, Bright House and Cox.
Rural Media Group went on to launch a magazine, an HD channel, a radio channel on Sirius XM, The Cowboy Channel and a streaming service called Cowboy Channel+.
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The Cowboy Channel is the Official Network of ProRodeo and National Finals Rodeo.
Patrick was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He leaves behind a wife and three children, two of which have leadership positions in his company.
He was a one-of-a-kind man who built a very successful one-of-a-kind TV network business.
I believe I inherited RFD from you Ed. He's was a hoot, such a character and a nice man!
I remember that, Maureen. Nielsen moved me into business development. RFD-TV was a good account! You also took over Dish and DIRECTV from me. They were a little hard to give up. I liked the DBS business too.