RFD-TV Founder Patrick Gottsch Dies at 70 Years Old
Patrick Gottsch, who launched RFD-TV and The Cowboy Channel died suddenly Saturday at age 70 in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
His life will be celebrated in a series of specials appearing on RFD-TV and Cowboy Channel. Half-hour specials started May 21 and a one-hour telecast is set for Friday.
Patrick Gottsch Remembered is hosted by Suzanne Alexander and Jeff Medders.
The special features events Gottsch liked, including The American, World Champions, PRCA, PBR, NFR, National High School Rodeo and 100 Days of Rodeo.
It also touches upon what he did for the agriculture community and farming, sharing stories and highlights from the Rose Parade, Tractor Parade Guinness Book of World Record, Truck Parade Guinness Book of World Record and cattle sales.
“It is with profound sadness that we recently announced the sudden passing of our beloved father, Patrick, who died unexpectedly early Saturday morning. Patrick was a pioneer and legend in the Western world and a fixture at rodeo events, always cheering on cowboys and cowgirls. He dedicated his life to building a 24-hour rural television network and multimedia company,” said Raquel Gottsch Koehler and Gatsby Gottsch Solheim.
“Beyond his remarkable career, Patrick was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. His passion and vision shaped our company, but it was his passion and dedication to family that defined him for us. We are deeply saddened by the loss of our company leader, but more importantly, by the loss of our father. We will miss him dearly,” they said.
Gottsch was born and raised in Elkhorn, Nebraska, growing up on his family’s farm and cattle feeding operation.
He moved to Chicago in 1977 and wired as a commodity broker until 1982.
He returned to Nebraska. On the day his first daughter, Raquel, was born, he saw a man assembling a C-band satellite dish. Soon after, he started his own dish installation company.
In March 1991, Patrick moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and worked for Superior Livestock Auction, which was the first to introduce satellite video marketing to the livestock industry.
He was encouraged by the founder of Superior, Jim Odle, to pursue his idea of creating a television network with programming that would appeal to rural America.
In December 2000, RFD-TV was launched on Dish Network, programmed with re-runs from the Nashville Network.
Rural Media Group Inc. eventually expanded to include RFD-TV The Magazine , RFD HD, Rural TV, Rural Radio on SiriusXM, The Cowboy Channel and The Cowgirl Channel.
