Owens was at the forefront of bringing country music into a new era of entertainment television programming, including 1977's A Concert Behind Prison Walls with Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt and Roy Clark. In 1983, he created Crook & Chase, country music’s first entertainment news talk show, bringing together news correspondent Lorianne Crook with veteran radio personality and local television host Charlie Chase. In 1985, The Nashville Network partnered with Jim Owens Entertainment for original content creation.