Ed Hardy grew  up in Bedford, Ohio and played accordion and clarinet in his high school marching band. That was the extent of his career as a musician. He opted instead for a career in the music business, majoring in broadcasting, and while still in college, working in the marketing and sales department of an FM country Station in Cleveland. He worked, managed and eventually owned several country format radio stations. As president of GAC, Great American Country, he is responsible for  day to day brand-related operations of GAC, overseeing programming, music, production, marketing and creative services teams. In his spare time now, he has returned to his roots and is learning the banjo.
Note: This is the entire Q & A with Ed HArdy. The "Music Row Movers & Shakers" Q & A in the June / July print Issue of NMG was editted due to space restrictions.
What got you into the TV music business?
From 1984-1993, I was general manager of 2 country radio stations owned by Scripps in Portland, OR. In 2004, I got a call from Ken Lowe, the CEO of E.W. Scripps and the founder of Scripps Networks and HGTV. Ken was my boss in my radio days at Scripps. He told me Scripps was buying GAC and asked me to assist with the acquisition and later offered me the job as president of GAC.

 

What was your prior position before becoming president of GAC?
I owned, and still own, 2 radio stations in Olympia, WA with a partner. Just prior I was CEO of MeasureCast, Inc., an Internet streaming audio and video audience measurement company. Prior to that, I was president of the western region of Citadel Radio Broadcasting into which I had merged a 17 radio station group in 4 markets in the Pacific Northwest that I had built. Many of  those radio stations were country formatted.

 

What are your main responsibilities at the GAC?
I am responsible for all of the day to day brand-related operations of GAC, overseeing programming, music, production, marketing and creative services teams.

 

Under your leadership, what do you consider your most significant accomplishments at GAC?
Building the most talented management in the world of music cable television content providers and helping them stay focused to take GAC to incredible levels of growth in distribution, ratings and revenue in less than 2 years and make a sizeable impact upon our immediate competitor. Also, the total rebranding we did of GAC in one year. All of this has led the country music artist community, including management and record labels to embrace GAC as a destination to expose their content.

 

What decision or decisions do you regret as president of GAC ?
I have no regrets since coming to GAC.

 

What demographic audience is GAC trying to reach?
Adults 18+ with an emphasis on Adults 25-54, skewing slightly female.

 

What new TV programs are on the horizon for GAC ?
In the near term, we are premiering a fabulous special with Brad Paisley in his first GAC concert special on June 17 at 8 p.m. ET. The 90-minute special, “Brad Paisley 5th Gear”, will feature exclusive backstage interviews with Paisley, while the centerpiece of the program will be Paisley’s high-energy stage show, captured live at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis. We are also launching a 13 part series of performances from Nashville’s CMA Music Festival at Riverfront Park that showcases the new stars of country music in June. In mid-September, we will also be premiering a series of 5 episodes of “The Hitmen of  Music Row,” featuring some of the biggest songwriters in country music performing their hits. It will star Craig Wiseman, Bob DePiero, Jeffrey Steele and Tony Mullins.

 

Do you envision GAC adopting a movie playing format like CMT for part of their programming ?
No. GAC’s focus is, and will continue to be upon country music, its artists, writers and the lifestyles they represent.

 

How is GAC utilizing the internet in their marketing strategies ?
In July of 2006, we did a total relaunch and rebranding of GACTv.com. We utilize it as an extension of the GAC TV linear network brand, as well as for generating unique content exclusively available on the site, such as our “Still Rollin” series.
Will GAC be dedicating more or less airtime to the playing of music videos in the future ?
We currently are airing approximately 60% more music video content than our nearest competitor and I don’t expect that to change.

 

What criteria is used to determine whether a music video will be played on GAC ?
We have a music selection committee that meets weekly. We view every video that is submitted to us and we use many resources in making our decision to add a video, including research, radio airplay, the quality and look of the production and the sound of the song itself.

 

What makes GAC decide to increase rotation on a music video ( from light to medium to heavy ) ?
We look at several indicators, not the least of which is the voting tabulation on our weekly Top 20 Countdown from GACTV.com. Unlike our competitors, our countdown is 100% viewer/fan voted, so it’s a good indicator of the popularity of a video. We also look at viewer feedback and how successful the song is overall in the marketplace.

 

Does an independent artist without a record label have a chance to have their music video played on GAC?
Absolutely. As I said, we view every video that comes across our music director’s desk and consider them all based upon all of the criteria I mentioned earlier, as well as slots available in our rotations. However, we do need to know that the song has a distribution channel to retail and that is difficult without any label in the mix.

 

How do viewers request airplay for their favorite music video ?
Via our Top 20 Countdown and viewer emails.

 

What in your opinion is causing the present declining country album sales ?
Certainly, the availability of selection of singles that can be purchased on line is the biggest factor. When a consumer can select a specific song for about a buck and not buy an entire album/cd, it would be logical that they might do so.

 

What challenges does the industry face to increase country music’s popularity ?
Country music’s growth continues to outpace all other genres of music. The industry needs to continue to market itself aggressively as a mass appeal genre to get new people to sample it. There will always need to be an effort to overcome stereotypical images of country music and its fans, but it is not difficult once people are exposed to their buying power and psychographic data.

 

Do you see the major label record consolidations as a good or bad thing for the future of country music ?
Neither. I see it as a reflection of the world of business today. There are very few industries that haven’t consolidated. Consolidation also provides opportunities for new, entrepreneurial ventures to develop and fill some of the needs that consolidation creates. I think the consolidated music industry needs to come to grips with the reality of the “single” hit driven world again and how to make that business model make money.

 

Do you see the recent surge of new independent labels as a good or bad thing for country music ?
New labels overall are doing a good job with both new artists and refocusing some established artists that became overshadowed at larger labels. There is a place for them. It’s important that they be adequately funded for success. If they fail, it is not good for country music or the artists on that label.

 

Is there anything you would like the records labels to do differently that would help make your job or that of your staff at GAC easier ?
We still face a challenge with a few labels that insist upon “embargoing” a video to allow it to air first on our competitor or online. With GAC’s focus being squarely on the music and artists, they are doing a great disservice to their artist by denying them the extra exposure they miss by not being on GAC during that period. They wouldn’t think of doing it to competing radio stations.

 

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into the TV music business ?
Get a good formal education. Work hard to learn from others by doing everything from an internship to production assistant to grunt work.

 

What is your worst pet peeve ?
People at any level who don’t fulfill commitments that they make.

 

What is your favorite saying ?
Borrowed from a President…”trust but verify”.

 

What are your hobbies ?
Work, golf and travel with my wife.

 

What is most important to you in life ?
My family and maintaining my health and sense of humor.

 

If someone want to contact you, how would they ? 
My direct number is (615) 327-7530. My email address is ehardy@scrippsnetworks.com