It may not have been quite so exciting as the Olympics, but the World Agriculture Exposition held in Amana, Iowa, last month commanded exhaustive coverage from the country's newest television broadcast service: RFD-TV, a 24- hour satellite channel aimed at farmers. The service, named after the old postal term rural free delivery, broadcast live from the expo for 16 hours.
Based in Omaha, RFD-TV puts out a signal that can be picked up free by the 2 million U.S. households with satellite dishes. About 70% of those homes are in rural areas not wired for cable TV. Programming includes crop and...