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Craig Morris Co-Founder and President Ride Television Network—Founded in 2011

Craig Morris Co-Founder and President Ride Television Network—Founded in 2011 Based in Fort Worth, Texas. Ride Television Network RIDE TV is an independent 24-hour pay TV channel dedicated to the equestrian and rural lifestyle

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Craig Morris Co-Founder and President Ride Television Network—Founded in 2011

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  1. Craig Morris Co-Founder and President Ride Television Network—Founded in 2011 Based in Fort Worth, Texas

  2. Ride Television Network • RIDE TV is an independent 24-hour pay TV channel dedicated to the equestrian and rural lifestyle • RIDE TV launched on October 1, 2014 and currently has distribution deals with DISH, Armstrong Cable, CenturyLink, Windstream, Shentel, Verizon, and a few other operators • RIDE TV is also being distributed in Latin America and very soon online via its own OTT platform

  3. Independent Channels Serve America • 30 million Americans ride horses each year, attend 20,000 horse shows, and 1 in 63 Americans are directly involved with horses • RIDE TV’s programming includes live sports, travel shows, reality shows, children’s programming, and other great, family friendly content • RIDE TV invests heavily in our content and we produce over 90% of it • Today, RIDE TV focuses primarily on this market but is expanding its programming to serve viewers who are also involved in ranching, and farming whether they live in urban or rural areas

  4. RIDE TV Has Enormous Capacity To Serve • RIDE TV is a well funded company with very notable shareholders who are committed to providing important content that improves the television programming landscape (Alice Walton-Walmart, John Paul DeJoria-Patron Spirits & Paul Mitchell Products and other billionaires) • Many independent channels are great concepts, well funded, serve very important segments of American TV viewers, but still face severe challenges in today’s MVPD- Programmer ecosystem

  5. Not All MVPD’s Are Created Equal • Truthfully, most MVPD’s don’t want to launch new channels. Fortunately, RIDE TV has found some who do (Terry Denson-Verizon, Warren Schlichting-Dish, David Wittman-Armstrong, Charter, and others) • Comments by top MVPD programming executives have included: • “If you had re-trans or other channels to trade you would have a big stick but since you don’t, you have no leverage and we don’t have to launch you.” • “The reality is, no MVPD wants to launch new channels and as an independent, it’s going to be very tough for you.” • “We don’t have any bandwidth and even if we did, we would only consider launching you if you were free.”

  6. The “Super Programmer” Effect • Mammoth Super Programmers who leverage “bundled” channels and retransmission rights to launch their new channels and raise rates have helped squeeze out independent channel launches (The Super Programmer Effect) • RIDE TV has been told by MVPD’s that they won’t launch independent channels because they don’t know when another bundled channel will be forced on them

  7. Current Challenges For Independents • Super Programmer forcing rate hikes and new channel launches through channel bundling and leveraging retransmission rights • MVPD’s claim they have no bandwidth and cannot pay for new channels but continue to launch and pay for channels belonging to Super Programmers • Most Favored Nation Clauses that essentially fixes pricing • No equity in subscriber fees regardless of viewers, quality of programming, or affinity base

  8. What Can Be Done? • Eliminate MFN clauses or make them two-way to also bind the MVPD • Encourage MVPD’s to replace non-performing bundled channels with independent channels with no fear of retaliation from Super Programmers • Do not allow MVPD’s to restrict programmer’s right to offer their product via their own OTT platform • Consider rules that require MVPD’s to offer 1 independent channel for every 2 non-independent channels to serve more of America • Consider forming an independent channel advocacy board that report to the FCC and Justice Department that would assist indie channels with launch negotiations

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