Circle (TV network)

Circle is Ryman Hospitality Properties' fourth entry into television network ownership. From its founding in 1983 until 1997, the company—known then as the Gaylord Entertainment Company—was owner of The Nashville Network (TNN). Gaylord later bought a second country music-oriented cable network, Country Music Television (CMT), in 1991. Gaylord Entertainment sold both networks to the CBS Cable unit of CBS Corporation in 1997 for $1.55 billion feeling that the two then-country networks could grow faster as part of a larger media company.[4] Gaylord, however, retained CMT International.[5] Gaylord Cable Networks took its stakes in TV Argentina and CMT International to launch the MusicCountry channel[6] in Mexico and Argentine in 2000. Then on September 1, 2000, the company launched the MusicCountry service in Europe. Gaylord would subsequently rebrand CMT channels in Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Asia-Pacific region's areas to the MusicCountry brand.[7]

Towards the end of the 2010s, Ryman Hospitality Properties was looking to venture back into television, with its Opry Entertainment unit already having co-produced the dramatic series Nashville. In 2018, Ryman had settled on a broadcast television network and began pursuing starting one as they felt country music fans are underserved. Ryman tested nine potential shows via a sizzle reel with excellent responses from focus group sessions.[2]

Ryman and Gray Television announced a joint venture between Gray and Ryman's subsidiary, Opry Entertainment Group on April 24, 2019 to launch a broadcast television network in early 2020 and an online streaming service later. The planned network would feature the Grand Ole Opry archives and performances from the Grand Ole Opry House and other Ryaman-owned music venues.[2] On October 17, 2019, the joint venture partners would confirm that Gray-owned stations would be among the network's charter affiliates; they would also reveal on that date the network's name — Circle, which is a nod to the iconic 6-foot wooden section of stage at the Opry House (and that section's original home, Ryman Auditorium) on which various country stars have performed.[3]

On December 16, 2019, Circle's formal launch date of January 1, 2020 was announced for Circle, along with a roster of 16 new programs for the network. Additionally, CBS Television Stations was also announced as joining in Circle's list of charter affiliates, bringing major markets to the network's initial list of stations to 56 affiliates covering 50% of the country.[8] As of October 2020, Circle has 99 affiliates reaching 62.61% of U.S. TV households.[9]

Circle features programming geared toward both fans of the country music genre and rural audiences, a similar demographic targeted by competing country music-oriented multicast networks Heartland (which, incidentally from 2012 until 2013, used The Nashville Network moniker once used by Ryman's original cable network venture) and The Country Network. Circle's programming primarily features a mix of original and acquired series with a country music or Southern lifestyle-centric format.

As the network was under development, Circle Media developed several original productions for the network's inaugural programming slate—aiming to make it one of a handful of digital multicast services that carry original programming, and one of the few (alongside the Live Well Network, which reduced its national distribution outside of sister networks ABC's owned-and-operated stations in January 2015, and its rebrand Localish) to offer a large original content slate. On December 11, 2019, Circle Media announced that it had greenlit 16 original programs slated to debut on the network in Circle's first five months of operation, including a simulcast of WSM Radio's Coffee, Country & Cody (which had previously aired on competing country music-oriented multicast network Heartland),[10][11] and the music and interview series The Dailey and Vincent Show which moved from the show's prior four-year home, RFD-TV.[12] and several docu-series (including Craig's World, a reality program centering on country artist Craig Morgan; Fandom, focusing on the artist-fan relationship in country music; Upstream, a fishing/interview program hosted by Elizabeth Cook; and several Grand Ole Opry-focused series such as Opry Debut).[13]

Among the initial offerings were all surviving episodes of Hee Haw.[13]

As of March 2020, Circle has current or pending affiliation agreements with 96 television stations in 96 media markets encompassing 39 states, covering 62.60% (or a total population of 195,620,130 residents) of all households in the United States that own at least one television set.[1]

Before its launch, Circle Media actively sought affiliation agreements with various television station owners to make the Circle network widely available throughout the United States. The network launched with clearance rate of, at minimum, 50% of overall American television households, in part due to affiliation agreements with stations owned by network co-parent Gray Television (initially encompassing 56 of the group's stations, with no clearance in approximately 15 other small-sized markets with a Gray-owned station)[3] and CBS Television Stations, which provided Circle broad clearance in the 25 largest U.S. markets (including New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Miami–Fort Lauderdale and Dallas–Fort Worth) through the group's CW, MyNetworkTV and independent stations.[8]

Ironically at the network's launch, Circle was not available over-the-air in the network's headquarters of Nashville, despite its status as the hub of the country music industry. Gray Television does not own any television stations in the Nashville television market (one of three Tennessee markets without a Gray station, along with the adjacent Jackson market and the Tri-Cities) and did not secure a local affiliate prior the network's debut. The network gained an affiliate in that market on January 31, 2020, via the DT5 subchannel of Meredith Local Media-owned NBC affiliate WSMV-TV, which was formerly owned alongside Ryman's Opry properties from 1950 until 1981.[16][17]

In a few markets, the network is not available at all due to a lack of room to offer the network in full, but local stations such as Milwaukee's WVTV-DT2 carry the Opry telecast on a tape delay direct from Circle and air it on their primary channel as a Saturday night offering.

• Official website