Gaylord Entertament Company -- Company History

Contents:

• GAYLORD COMMUNITY PRODUCTIONS
• GAYLORD PRODUCTN ACQUIR "HEE HAW'
• GAYLORD PRODUCTN COMPANY
• HISTORY MATTERS: GAYLORD MOTOR CAR COMPANY STARTED 110 YEARS AGO
• EAGLETREE CAPAL ACQUIR LEADG SPECIALTY CHEMIL PRODUCER, GAYLORD CHEMIL
• GAYLORD PRODUCTNS
• CORPORATE MAGIC WS A GALA FOR THE GAYLORD
• CLOSG LOGO FOR SHAEFER KARPF PRODUCTNS, GAYLORD PRODUCTN COMPANY

GAYLORD COMMUNITY PRODUCTIONS

GAYLORD COMMUNITY PRODUCTIONS2023 SEASONFOOTLOOSE.

CONSIDER BECOMING A SPONSOR OF OUR 2023 SEASONGAYLORD COMMUNITY. 1903: The Gaylord and Dickson fai enter the newspaper publishg bs.

1983: Gaylord purchas Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel for $250 ln; the Nashville Network is lnched. Company History: Gaylord Entertament Company is a diversified entertament and munitns pany whose holdgs clu the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel, and Opry Mills, a massive retail and entertament center Nashville, Tennsee. Gaylord Entertament also owns three Nashville rad statns and ntrols Christian web s and.

GAYLORD PRODUCTN ACQUIR "HEE HAW'

The Gaylord and Dickson fai began what would bee the Gaylord Entertament Company the Oklahoma Terrory 1903--Oklahoma would not bee a part of the Unn until 1907. Realizg the future potential of rad, which was still s fancy durg the early 1920s, the Gaylords and Dicksons branched out to the broadstg dtry 1928 wh the purchase of WKY-AM, a statn Oklahoma Cy.

Unr the directn of founr Edward Kg Gaylord, Oklahoma Publishg Company prospered durg the early and mid-1900s wh s rad and publishg operatns. Gaylord snapped up several statns, cludg KTVT Dallas, WVTV Milwkee, Hoton's KHTV, and KSTW Seattle; at one pot, the pany was operatg seven statns.

Oklahoma Publishg Company's televisn and rad operatns were anized unr s wholly owned Gaylord Broadstg subsidiary. Bee the pany was privately owned by the Gaylord fay, fancial and operatg data was generally not ma available to the public.

GAYLORD PRODUCTN COMPANY

Furthermore, the Gaylords led relatively private liv and had a reputatn for keepg a firm grip on the pany. Amazgly, Edward Kg Gaylord, who had helped start the pany 1903 at the age of 32, was still actively managg the pany the early 1970s.

Gaylord ntued to succsfully oversee the publishg and broadstg bs found by his father.

HISTORY MATTERS: GAYLORD MOTOR CAR COMPANY STARTED 110 YEARS AGO

But Gaylord also tried branchg out to several new ventur. In the mid-1980s, for example, he ma an unsuccsful bid to purchase the Texas Rangers baseball anizatn--bee of his disda for reporters, Gaylord had his Oklahoma newspapers rry stori (about the failed acquisn) om a Dallas newspaper. The bs foray that would brg Gaylord the greatt amount of succs and would thst his pany to the natnal spotlight was his 1983 purchase of Nashville-based Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel.

Opryland's vigoro expansn durg the late 1970s and early 1980s ught the eye of Gaylord, who viewed the Opry's broadstg and entertament operatns as a fortable f wh Gaylord Broadstg. When WSM's parent rporatn went huntg for a buyer for the Opry plex, Gaylord ma himself available. In September 1983, Gaylord purchased the Opry properti for $250 ln; the transactn would later be lled one of the entertament dtry's better bargas.

Although Nashville lols feared that Dallas-based Gaylord Broadstg might start sellg off Opry properti, Gaylord soon allayed their worri.

EAGLETREE CAPAL ACQUIR LEADG SPECIALTY CHEMIL PRODUCER, GAYLORD CHEMIL

Gaylord assumed a mimal role the management of Opryland, choosg to leave E. He began reportg to Gaylord after the 1983 acquisn. In addn to Wenll, several other executiv that had helped build the enterprise were retaed by Gaylord.

GAYLORD PRODUCTNS

One of Vghn's and Dimond's savvit mov after the Gaylord acquisn was the creatn of the Country Christmas, which brought untry mic stars for a special, seasonal event. Ined, as Gaylord beefed up the Opryland plex and stepped up promotnal activi, attendance at the Grand Ole Opry and the theme park mhroomed.

CORPORATE MAGIC WS A GALA FOR THE GAYLORD

In addn, Gaylord began extendg Opryland's reach several other directns an effort to build an entire Opryland enterprise found on untry mic. In 1983, Gaylord started beamg The Nashville Network (TNN), an advertiser-supported ble televisn work featurg untry liftyl and entertament.

In 1985, moreover, Gaylord opened the 1, 200 passenger General Jackson riverboat, the largt paddlewheel showboat the world. Gaylord's succs Nashville prompted him to foc his anizatn's efforts on Opryland durg the late 1980s. In fact, Gaylord was able to unload one of his televisn statns 1987 for a high $365 ln.

Gaylord beat the adle by acquirg a California ble televisn pany for a pricey $418 ln. In 1990, Gaylord Broadstg and s subsidiari garnered $512 ln sal.

CLOSG LOGO FOR SHAEFER KARPF PRODUCTNS, GAYLORD PRODUCTN COMPANY

5 ln of that amount was ted as e, largely bee of the heavy bt load curred by Gaylord when he purchased the laggg ble divisn. Lowerg Gaylord's $550 ln bt, among other objectiv, prompted the media mogul to take his pany public October 1991.

Oklahoma Publishg Company remaed a separate pany, but all of s broadstg and entertament holdgs were fold to a new holdg pany, Gaylord Entertament Company.

Gaylord's stock offerg 1991 drew skepticism om some stock brokers who viewed the pany as a large, margally profable ncern domated by an agg, out-of-step executive. ' Other analysts predicted that the move signaled the likely ex of Gaylord and his fay om ownership of the pany. Dpe some negative speculatn about Gaylord Entertament's stock sale, Gaylord ntued to foc on bolsterg the pany's strength untry-related enterpris.