Ramblin' Rhodes: Control of TNN changing

Westinghouse Electric Corp. to buy The Nashville Network, Canadian rights to CMT

Web posted March 21, 1997

Don Rhodes
Entertainment Columnist

The Grand OleOpry House and The Nashville Network's broadcasting studios will probably soon be using Westinghouse light bulbs exclusively.

That's because Westinghouse Electric Corp. is buying The Nashville Network and U.S. and Canadian rights to Country Music Television (country music videos) from the Gaylord Entertainment Co. for $1.55 billion in Westinghouse stock.

Oklahoma-based Gaylord Entertainment will be left with the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, Opryland park, one TV station, three Nashville radio stations, Country Music Television International and Z Music Television.

The facilities of The Nashville Network are located at Opryland park next to the Grand Ole Opry House, and one of the most popular programs on TNN is a live broadcast of the Opry from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Saturdays.

According to New York Times reporter Geraldine Fabrikant, the purchase is intended to move Westinghouse more into cable television. More than 70 million households now are able to see The Nashville Network, and more than 38 million households are hooked up to CMT.

The deal is part of a longstanding relationship between Gaylord and Westinghouse.

Westinghouse-owned Group W Satellite Communications has handled publicity for TNN and CMT for many years. And Westinghouse already owns 33 percent of Country Music Television.

The deal makes Westinghouse the owner of two of country music's biggest awards shows broadcasts, each shown live from the Grand Ole Opry House.

Westinghouse last year bought CBS, which broadcasts the Country Music Association's awards each October live from the Opry House. With the addition of The Nashville Network, Westinghouse will be responsible for the Music City News/TNN awards, broadcast each June from the Opry House.

Westinghouse Chief Executive and CEO Michael H. Jordan was quoted saying, ``Our ownership of TNN and CMT will make us key players in country music and country lifestyle businesses, cable programming and multi-channel distribution.''

Dolly Parton couldn't fill up the gym of North Augusta High School. Yet some 20 years later country music has become a billion dollar business thanks in large part to The Nashville Network.}All of this brought back to mind a visit to the Grand Ole Opry show in June 1983. I found myself seated in the rear of the stage on some metal bleachers with a 60-ish man and his wife. He told me that he owned some TV and radio stations in the Tulsa, Okla., area.

We swapped some stories about the media business and talked about the Opry acts performing on the stage. He gave me his business card, and I didn't think much more about that encounter.

In September it was announced that the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland park had been sold by the National Life Insurance Co. of Nashville.

When I read the story to see who was the buyer, there was the name of 63-year-old Edward Gaylord of Tulsa, the man who sat next to me that June night at the Grand Ole Opry.