Rural Media Group Names Sandy Brown COO

Veteran cable executive Alexander “Sandy” Brown has been named chief operating officer for Rural Media Group.

Brown had been president and CEO of One World Sports (now Eleven Sports). Before that he was president of sports for Univision and managing director for ESPN Asia.

AS COO and group president of RMG, Brown will lead the company's operating businesses, focusing on RFD-TV, The Cowboy Channel and Rural Radio on Sirius XM.

"Sandy Brown is a tremendous addition to our senior management team," said Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of Rural Media Group. "His vast experience in national advertising sales and existing relationships with key distributors will certainly add value to both RFD-TV and our new venture, The Cowboy Channel.

"RMG's operations in Nashville will also benefit daily with Sandy's leadership, as will our efforts to now expand all our interests digitally on an international basis,” Gottsch added. "I see Sandy as contributing heavily to helping our networks finally reach their full potential."

Brown will report to Gottsch.

"Rural Media Group is the unequivocal leader in covering the issues that affect our farming and ranching community, for no other network connects with this critical segment of our country in the manner that RMG does," Brown said. “I am thrilled to be joining the group at a time when rural America’s interests have never been more important.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.