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Rodeo

The Cowboy Channel

24-hour rodeo network launched on 1 July 2017 and the self-described official network of ProRodeo. Owned since November 2024 by Teton Ridge, which also holds the PRCA’s exclusive media licence — so a rights-holder’s channel, not an independent one.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
Type24-hour television network and streaming service
OwnerTeton Ridge (since 20 Nov 2024); Rural Media Group 2017–24
RightsPRCA exclusive media licence (Rural Media’s 2023 deal ran to 2028; Teton Ridge’s term not stated)
Launched1 July 2017

What is The Cowboy Channel?

The Cowboy Channel is a 24-hour US television network that describes itself as the official network of ProRodeo and the first 24-hour network dedicated to it. It launched on 1 July 2017 in place of FamilyNet under Rural Media Group, and has belonged since 20 November 2024 to Teton Ridge of Weatherford, Texas, whose chairman is Thomas Tull.[1] [2] [4] [6]

What does it cover?

Live PRCA rodeos — “more than 600 live rodeo events annually” — the National Finals Rodeo, standings and schedules, and programmes such as Western Sports Round-Up, an hour-long daily results-and-interview show with hosts Steven Kenyon, Amy Wilson and Janie Johnson, simulcast on SiriusXM. A sister Cowgirl Channel ran from 2023 until 15 November 2025, and a streaming service, Cowboy Channel+, carries the network.[1] [5]

What is its reach and standing?

Carriage on DISH, DIRECTV, Comcast, Cox, Charter and Altice; an older figure of “over 42 million” cable and satellite homes dates from 2019, and Teton Ridge’s 2024 release claims “over 100 million people” across linear, digital and social — the owner’s number, not an audit. The PRCA relationship is the standing: Rural Media Group’s agreement to televise and stream PRCA events including the NFR was extended in April 2023 through 2028 at up to 900 rodeos a year, and Teton Ridge announced its own exclusive PRCA licensing agreement with the purchase; its term is not stated.[1] [3] [4]

Since when?

1 July 2017. Rural Media Group (the Gottsch family) until November 2024; Teton Ridge since.[1] [4]

Why does it matter in rodeo?

Because it is where professional rodeo is watched and its standings read — and because its owner is the sport’s largest rights-holder, with its own competing events. A Cowboy Channel broadcast documents a rodeo’s standing; it is not an independent assessment of it.[1] [2]

References

  1. Business Wire — “Teton Ridge acquires The Cowboy Channel”, 20 Nov 2024. Accessed September 2026.
  2. Teton Ridge — acquisition of The Cowboy Channel. Accessed September 2026.
  3. The Cowboy Channel — PRCA and Rural Media Group agreement through 2028. Accessed September 2026.
  4. Wikipedia — The Cowboy Channel (background: 2017 launch, 2019 carriage). Accessed September 2026.
  5. The Cowboy Channel — Western Sports Round-Up. Accessed September 2026.
  6. The Cowboy Channel — home. Accessed September 2026.