PATRICK GOTTSCH
Founder & President

Born and raised in Elkhorn, Nebraska, Patrick grew up on his family’s farm and cattle feeding operation and learned first-hand the importance rural America plays in the everyday lives of Americans.  After attending college at Sam Houston State University in Texas, he moved to Chicago in 1977 and worked as a commodity broker on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange until 1982.  Patrick then returned to his home state of Nebraska where he started E.T. Installations, a company that sold and installed C-band home satellites.  Working with Birdview Satellite Broadcast and Communication Association (SBCA), E.T. Installations introduced over 2,000 satellites into the Midwest and was recognized as the nation’s largest privately owned home satellite retailer in 1987. 

In March 1991, Patrick moved to Fort Worth, Texas and served as the Director of Sales for Superior Livestock Auction from 1992 to 1996.  Superior Livestock Auction was the first to introduce satellite video marketing to the livestock industry and has since grown to become the largest livestock auction enterprise in the United States. 

Pulling all of these experiences together, Patrick decided to dedicate himself full-time to creating a 24-hour rural television network.  In December 2000, Rural Free Delivery Television (RFD-TV) was successfully launched on DISH Network.  Distribution of this one-of-a-kind station expanded to DIRECTV in March 2002 with all major cable agreements quickly to follow including Mediacom, Charter, Optimum, Suddenlink, Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Bright House, and Cox.  Today, RFD-TV is available in more than 41 million homes nationwide.  Rural Media Group, Inc. has since expanded to include RFD-TV The Magazine (2003), RFD-TV The Theatre (2007), RFD HD (2008) and the most recent addition, RURAL TV (2009), which is the sister network to RFD-TV serving the international market. 

Patrick lives in his hometown of Elkhorn where his brother continues to raise corn and soybeans.  Patrick has two daughters—Raquel and Gatsby.  Raquel currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications for Rural Media Group, Inc.  while Gatsby serves as Executive Vice President of Finance.

RAQUEL GOTTSCH
Executive Vice President – Corporate Communications

Raquel graduated in 2007, with high honors, from Omaha’s Creighton University with a Bachelor of Arts & Sciences degree in journalism & mass communications. Prior to joining her father’s (Patrick Gottsch) company, she worked at NRG Media in Omaha as Promotions Assistant to 8 radio stations while mentoring and supervising over 50 interns, among many other responsibilities.

Today, Raquel oversees marketing, public relations and corporate communications.  She is responsible for planning, development and implementation of all special events, marketing strategies, marketing communications, and public relations activities, both external and internal. She is instrumental in the development and implementation of support materials and services regarding corporate communications. She directs the efforts of marketing, communications and public relations staff and coordinates at the strategic and tactical levels with other functions of Rural Media Group, Inc.

She has been with RFD-TV for 11 years, 2 of which were in RFD-TV’s Nashville, TN office.  Raquel spends most of her free time with her Maltipoo puppy (Maltese Poodle) name Apple.

GATSBY GOTTSCH
Executive Vice President – Finance

Gatsby Gottsch has been with RFD-TV since its launch on December 1, 2000.   As the founder’s youngest daughter, she started her career at the age of 13 by answering phones and assisting her father with satellite installations after school.  With the launch of RFD-TV The Magazine in July 2003, Gatsby took on the role of data entry and customer service representative for this publication.  In addition, she traveled around the country on weekends attending industry trade shows and spreading the word about “rural America’s most important network.”

In 2006, Gatsby moved from Husker Nation in Nebraska to Longhorn Country in Austin to attend The University of Texas.  During her college years, she continued her involvement with RFD-TV and in March 2009, she published an article in Agri Marketing Magazine about RFD-TV’s participation in The Tournament of Roses Parade titled “Thinking Outside The Box: Rose Parade Float Salutes Ag.”  In the fall of 2009, she traveled abroad to further her education and study international business and Spanish at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas- ICADE in Madrid, Spain.  In May 2010, Gatsby graduated from the McCombs School of Business, a Businessweek top 10 ranked undergraduate program, with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and a minor in Spanish. 

In May 2010, Gatsby moved back to her hometown of Elkhorn, Nebraska to begin working full-time for Rural Media Group and RFD-TV in the accounting and finance departments.  In the fall of 2010, Gatsby was named Executive Vice-President of Finance and soon after, one of CableFax’s Most Powerful Women in Cable.  She has since expanded into RMG’s international division and is currently working on distributing RFD-TV programming into other countries. 

ED FRAZIER
Chief Operating Officer

Ed has been involved in the media and Internet industries for over 20 years and has successfully launched communications and programming ventures. He joined Rural Media Group in 2005. Prior to Rural Media Group Ed served as Principal and co-founder of Irving, Texas-based Frazier/King Media Holding Company formed in 1996.  Previously, Mr. Frazier served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Sports, Inc. until its merger with News Corporation in 1996. During Ed’s tenure, Liberty grew to more than 100 million subscribers’ worldwide and held investments in 14 regional sports networks in the U.S. (currently Fox Sports).  Ed founded Satellite Sports Networks, the first conditional access direct-to-home distributor of sports programming. Liberty Sports’ merged assets were valued at $1.2 billion.  Ed’s International experience includes the creation and launch of Star Sports in Hong Kong in a venture that reached 42 countries in Asia.  Following Fox Sports Ed was involved in a joint Venture with CoServ in the deployment and creation of advanced fiber networks, wireless broadband video streaming, and bundled utilities.  In 2000 he was inducted into the Broadband Solutions Hall of Fame where he was recognized as a pioneer and leader in the deployment of Broadband technologies.  Ed also served as the Chairman of the Board of NTN communications an American Stock Exchange company for two years.  He has worked with both privately held and publicly traded companies.



STEVE CAMPIONE
Chief Financial Officer

Steve Campione joins Rural Media Group after 15 years in commercial and investment banking. Prior to joining RMG, Steve spent ten years in the Communications, Media and Entertainment group for RBC Daniels (previously Daniels & Associates), the leading media and communications investment banking firm in the U.S., where he was primarily responsible for programming and distribution transactions both in the US and internationally.  He has successfully completed multiple buy and sell side transactions in the US and Europe and has raised over $500 million in equity and debt for various cable, programming and telecommunication clients.  During his investment banking tenure, he worked closely with top executives from many of the leading content and communications companies including DirecTV, DISH Network, Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision, Cox, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, Viacom, Rainbow and Fox.   In 2008, Steve was named to the Multichannel News ’40 Under 40’ list for his work with the programming and wireless communications sectors.

Steve has advised RMG since 2007 on various capital raising and strategic initiatives.  Steve joined RMG full time in 2010 and manages its capital structure and long term growth strategy, including evaluating acquisition and investment opportunities.

Steve earned his MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business and has a B.A. from Rutgers University, where he co-founded the Rutgers Intercollegiate Men’s Volleyball Club program.  When he’s not working, he is spending time with his wife and three children.