AgDay TV celebrates 25th year.

There are only a handful of TV shows that reach their 25th anniversary. Add AgDay to the list.

As can be expected, being formed in 1982 AgDay has had many firsts along the way.

"AgDay was the second syndicated TV show behind "Entertainment Tonight" to be distributed by satellite," says Jeff Pence, Pres of Digital Media for its owner Farm Journal Media (FJEM). "All other shows at the time used the 'Greyhound Network ... massive 1' tapes via bus! Technology's come a long way."

Originally founded by Neil Nusbaum, a successful agribusinessman located in Monticello, IN, the first show was produced at WTHI, in Terra Haute, IN, and distributed to a fledging network of thirty-five Midwest TV stations.

"The plan was always to take the show nationally," says AgDay Sr Producer Don Green, who has been with the show since its beginning, except for a short stint away in the mid-'80s.

That it has. The show now airs daily on 260 stations covering 82% of the nation's corn acres, 79% of the soybeans, 68% of the cotton and well over two-thirds of the cattle and pork producing areas. According to Nielsen, the show is seen by over 200,000 households each morning.

TRUE TO ITS MISSION

"From its beginning, the show's mission was, and still is, to be a consistent, positive ambassador for agricultural producers and to explain their role to consumers," says Al Pell, the show's long-time anchor and now its AgriBusiness Dir. "We provide producers with information they need to make money. We have found that if they discover the information themselves, they will put it into action. We sow the seeds for that discovery."

Pence and his crew also believed in "taking our show to the audience."

"The first remotes were '"Breakfast with AgDay" ... where we just had coffee and donuts and worked with local affiliates to promote the event," says FJEM GM Brian Conrady. "Sometimes, we had as many as 500 farmers show up at five o'clock in the morning to see a TV show being produced."

Those shows are continuing and can now be seen at several national conventions each year, including the Commodity Classic Early Riser Session and the recently completed "John Deere Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour." Both events boast standing-room only crowds.

AgDay grew steadily through the late 1980s and early '90s--but two key events took place that solidified its future, according to Pence. First, in 1989, Al Pell joined as host synonymous with moving production of the show to its current home at the NBC affiliate in South Bend, IN, which provided a significantly improved infrastructure for both production and distribution. And second, AgDay acquired the assets of the competing program "Morning Ag Report" which provided additional affiliates and audience.

ADVERTISERS

At first, agri-marketers' support for the program was slow. "The concept of a syndicated TV program was still very new--both in terms of its national coverage, and in a lot of cases making TV part of their media mix. Many clients didn't have TV commercials," Pence says. "So we introduced the concept of long format commercials, 'a product message from the sponsor,' taped on site at major farm shows. Today, we know them as infomercials.

"As a result of this success, we provided our camera crews to shoot, and produce many versions of these cost effective 'educational messages,' usually running a minute long."

Today, well beyond infomercials, the show is an integral part of many companies' communications activities. Since its acquisition by Farm Journal in 1998, the TV show has been integrated as part of nearly 70 campaigns in which advertisers take advantage of Farm Journal's multiple media channels including its magazines, database, the AgWeb.com portal and other assets.

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THE FUTURE

"The Internet allows the audience to get AgDay and U.S. Farm Report when and how they want it," says Pence. "It allows us to take our TV shows to a whole new level.

"We have been streaming AgDay on the Web since the mid '90s. As broadband becomes more accessible in rural areas, our on-line audience continues to grow.

He says there are additional interactive opportunities that, when tied to a database, opens up even more possibilities to a creative marketer.

A quarter of a century may seem like a long time to some. But for AgDay, it appears to be only the beginning of a much longer run.