''Northern Broadcasting System'' was started in 1975 by

Conrad Burns Conrad Ray Burns (January 25, 1935 – April 28, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Montana and later was a lobbyist. He was only the second Republican popularly elected to represent Montana in the Senat ...

(who later became a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...

from

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

) as an agricultural

broadcast network A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ...

called the Northern Agricultural Network. Burns created the network after seeing an opportunity to provide information to the agri-business community, Montana's top industry. The network had four stations at its inception and grew in size. In 1986, Burns sold the network to enter Montana politics. Under the guidance of the network's new President/CEO Taylor Brown, the network grew to cover parts of eight states in the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Northern Broadcasting is a blanket organization which includes the Northern News Network, the Northern Sports Network, and the Northern Ag Network. In addition to the radio stations on the networks, thirteen television stations also air farm and ranch news across Montana, Wyoming and the western

Dakotas The Dakotas is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geography, fauna, sociology, econom ...

Programs Produced

The network produces eight full length

newscasts News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

per day anchored by News Director Brian Bennett. In addition, the network has several complete broadcast weather forecasts in the Northern region with weather from

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while th ...

Ed McIntosh. The four-minute forecasts include extensive agricultural information as well as general weather news. The network entered a program to help alert Montana residents to severe weather. The Voices Of Montana is the only live, full hour, daily statewide radio talk show in Montana. Politicians, businessmen, state organizations, and citizens are invited to appear on the program. The show is hosted by host Jon Arneson.

Awards

Northern Broadcasting has won a number of awards and been involved in philanthropic and charitable organizations in Montana. The

National Association of Agricultural Educators National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

recognized at a national level, the work done by Taylor Brown and Northern Broadcasting. Brown is a former president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. In 2010 Brown was named to the National Farm Broadcasters Hall Of Fame. Northern Ag's Farm Director Russell Nemetz is Chairman of the

Montana Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia ...

in 2011.

Network Coverage

Northern Broadcasting has affiliated stations carrying their programming in several Montana cities. The network is also heard in cities in neighboring states including

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

NorthernBroadcasting.com

NorthernAg.net

NorthernAgClassifieds.com
Agricultural radio networks American radio networks News and talk radio stations in the United States Radio production companies 1975 establishments in Montana