Sarah Trahern Leads GAC Revamp

Sarah Trahern Leads GAC Revamp

By Crystal Caviness

The folks at Great American Country are ready to take their show on the road. After spending the past year revamping the look and feel of the Country Music cable network with new graphics and programming, GAC is intent on growing its ratings.

"Last year was the year to get the look and feel of the network to a new level," said Sarah Trahern, GAC's Senior VP of Programming, who joined the Scripps Networks cable channel early in 2005 and oversees program development, acquisition and strategic planning, among others.

"Like in the film 'Field Of Dreams,' 'If you build it, they will come,'" Trahern said. "We've spent this past year building it, working on a studio, new graphics for all of our shows, rebranding our network at the end of the year with a new logo, a new mission statement for the network. Now our job is to get them there. This year is the year we're going to market and take the network to the Country Music consumer."

By the end of 2005, GAC boasted a reach of 40 million households, Trahern added. The strategy to attract viewers includes a continued focus on the music and, specifically, music videos.

"I'm continually amazed by the strict loyalty to the videos," Trahern said. "Our viewers, they all want the music. If we do a show and we don't play the whole video, we get e-mails."

Country Music videos have been a dominant portion of GAC's programming from the beginning.

"The BDS figure for December was 42 percent more music than our nearest competitor," Trahern said, citing Broadcast Data Systems information, the music industry standard for tracking music. To that end, the GAC team has created programming where videos and artists star, such as "The Collection," a series hosted by Storme Warren, who spends an hour showcasing a single artist's videos. Lonestar, Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar and Dwight Yoakam are among the Country artists who have been featured. The series debuted March 1.

"My Music Mix" features Country artists who present and talk about their favorite videos. A recent show featured Big & Rich, whose video collection ranged from Waylon Jennings to Willie Nelson and Shania Twain. Bill Cody's "GAC Classics" series is being revamped into "The Masters Series," with a setting move to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

"This show will be going over the breadth of an individual artist's career, not just their new music, and not necessarily older artists," Trahern said.

In addition to the new programming, new and expanded projects are coming. During the past 12 months, GAC struck a number of major deals, including the extension of broadcast rights to the Grand Ole Opry and the cable rights to the Academy of Country Music Awards. The relationship with the Opry spawned one of the year's most anticipated shows, "The Grand Ole Opry At Carnegie Hall," which premiered March 12 on GAC and has resulted in a DVD of the same name. The historic concert occurred Nov. 14 during CMA's "Country Takes NYC," one day before "The 39th Annual CMA Awards" were held in New York.

"It was an amazing opportunity," Trahern said, adding that shooting the show in New York was "an expensive proposition. But it's one of those things that we can't not do. It might be another 40 years before this would happen again. When I look back on my tenure at GAC, 'Opry At Carnegie Hall' is one of those things I'll be most proud of."

That decision is one example of the network's commitment to Country Music, said Martin Fischer, who, as President of High Five Entertainment, is a production partner with GAC and the Opry in the weekly airing of the Grand Ole Opry broadcast.

"Producing 'Grand Ole Opry Live' for GAC has allowed us to see first-hand the network's appreciation for the grand and historic scope of Country Music," Fischer said. "Although they are very passionate about contemporary artists and new music, they appreciate the value of a legacy like the Opry. They didn't have to tape the incredible 'Grand Ole Opry At Carnegie Hall' event last November, but they knew it was a once in a lifetime moment ... and agreed it should be captured on video. We have found GAC executives Sarah Trahern and (President) Ed Hardy to be strong supporters and fans of Country Music - network executives who truly love the format and are doing everything in their capacity to help it flourish,"

On March 23, GAC aired a gospel music special by Alan Jackson, taped Feb. 27 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to coincide with the Feb. 28 album release of Precious Memories, his first gospel album. The network also plans to be out in full force for the CMA Music Festival, taking place June 8-11 in Nashville.

"The CMA Music Festival is a big deal for us," Trahern said. "We'll be doing what we did last year, plus more. More interviews with artists throughout the week, talking to fans. One of the things we want to do is touch the fan base across the country."

The network also has plans for fans closer to home. Last year, GAC partnered with the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau to air an annual July 4 concert with the Nashville Symphony for multiple years.

"It's important for us to be good corporate citizens in Nashville as well," Trahern said. "To us, it's a nice event ... to come with our families to be a part of this."

Trahern, Hardy and the rest of the GAC staff of about 20 are anxious to see what 2006 holds for them.

"There's room for more than one network that does Country Music," Trahern said. "We have to continue to grow, that's the whole point of it. ... I'm eager to see where we end up this time next year. ... When you reach some good milestones in your first year out, that just sets our own expectations for higher for the next year. That's challenging and fun at the same time."

On the Web: www.gactv.com

Dean Sams of Lonestar participates in a Q&A session promoting GAC programs at the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, Calif., in January. (l-r) Ed Hardy, GAC President; Sams; Sarah Trahern, GAC Senior VP of Programming. ©PHOTOGRAPHY courtesy of GAC

May 9, 2006