Circle Country

Previously before 2024, the network was available primarily through the digital subchannels of broadcast television stations, as well as an ad-supported video-on-demand channel on Peacock and Stirr, along with national carriage on Dish Network and Sling TV. Cable television and IPTV providers were offered either the network's local affiliate, or the network's national feed on their systems.


Circle ended the OTA portion of the channel on December 31, 2023. Streaming of the channel remained available under the Circle Country name. Many of the OTA stations replaced Circle with one of several networks under the new Gray/Lionsgate/Warner Bros. Discovery joint venture Free TV Networks, which is led by broadcasting veteran Jonathan Katz. Opry's programming rights will be utilized on several new AVOD ventures by Opry and NBCUniversal, which took a 30% minority stake in Opry Entertainment in 2022.^[2][3] Programs from the Circle Network continue to be available through various streaming providers on the Circle Country network after the OTA service ended.^[4]

Background[edit]

Circle Country was Opry Entertainment Group's fourth entry into television network ownership. From its founding in 1983 until 1997, OEG's parent company (Ryman Hospitality Properties), 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.^[5] Gaylord, however, retained CMT International.^[6] Gaylord Cable Networks took its stakes in TV Argentina and CMT International to launch the MusicCountry channel^[7] 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.^[8]

History[edit]

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, along with the end of its partnerships to carry the Opry with CMT, then Great American Country, as their managements both shifted away from music programming and towards a more generic and broad-based focus on Southern culture. 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.^[9]


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 Ryman-owned music venues.^[9] 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.^[10]


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.^[11] As of October 2020, Circle has 99 affiliates reaching 62.61% of U.S. TV households.^[12]


On November 10, 2023, it was announced that Circle as an over-the-air network would cease its broadcast operations on December 31, 2023, as Gray transitions to a new partnership for its digital subchannel networks, Free TV Networks, with Lionsgate and Warner Bros. Discovery. The final regular program to air on Circle as a OTA network was the movie Rio Lobo. The channel continues streaming via the Circle Country network, with select programming such as Coffee, Country & Cody as well as Opry Live. In addition, Opry Live and The Song will continue to be offered over-the-air via the syndication market.^[2][3]