Gone are the days when lumberjacks and fishermen ruled daytime ESPN broadcasts.
Courtesy of The Outdoor Channel
"Ultimate Match Fishing," an Outdoor Channel original, features two world-class anglers competing for a $50,000 prize, all within the confines of one boat. The Outdoor Channel is the only national network that focuses exclusively on outdoor interests such as hunting, fishing and shooting.
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When ESPN and The Outdoor Life Network shifted away from outdoor sports programming to focus on competition-based sports like NASCAR, hockey and boxing, Perry Massie wasn't complaining.
Massie is the president of Temecula-based The Outdoor Channel, which is the only national network left that focuses exclusively on outdoor interests such as hunting, fishing and shooting.
A publicly traded company, The Outdoor Channel had revenue of about $40 million last year.
Massie said he feels responsible for keeping traditional outdoorsman-based programming going. In the mid-1990s, he had to leverage all his family's assets, including his mother's house, to keep The Outdoor Channel alive. The turning point finally came in 1998, when the Dish Network added the channel to its lineup.
Why did Massie believe that much in his product?
“When you get a phone call from a mayor for you to come and do a public apology for the cable company for deleting our channel, and then reinstating it because of such a public outcry, it kind of burns into you that there's something about this company that really is special,” he said.
Massie's father, George, laid the foundation for the network when he started a gold prospecting club out of his garage in the 1970s. He videotaped his gold-mining adventures and sold them to air on local television.
Courtesy of The Outdoor Channel
Fast Draw world champion and cowboy action shooter Cal Elrich (top) is featured on The Outdoor Channel original "Cowboys." The channel's new broadcast center (bottom) features a 7.2-meter satellite dish.
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Courtesy of The Outdoor Channel
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After George passed away, Massie took over and turned the idea into a 24-hour outdoor network in 1993.
Today, The Outdoor Channel has about 120 employees and has distribution deals with major cable and satellite operators such as DirecTV, Comcast, Cox and Time Warner.
“The big challenge for us is to grow from our present level of approximately 29 million subscribers to get over 40 million,” Massie said.
In terms of distribution, Massie's goal of 40 million subscribers is an important milestone because the program would then be seen in about half of American homes, attracting major advertisers.
Getting to that number isn't easy, said those familiar with the industry.
In San Diego, for instance, The Outdoor Channel is carried on Time Warner and Dish Network systems but not Cox.
“It's very difficult to be a stand-alone independent cable network, mainly because you need some leverage to get the distribution,” said Michael A. Kupinski, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons. Being bought by a larger company could give The Outdoor Channel the leverage it is looking for, he said.
Massie hasn't indicated a willingness to sell, at least not yet.
Instead, he made a major hire, naming former Outdoor Life Network and ESPN executive Roger Werner as chief executive of the company. Massie thinks Werner's decades of cable experience will help the company grow.
“He's got a lot of contacts in the business and has a tremendous wealth of experience in running cable networks and building them and rolling them out to distribution.
We'll hopefully benefit from that,” Massie said.
The Outdoor Channel could also benefit from having a higher percentage of male viewers than any other network.
“We're pretty happy with that because the most efficient way for an advertiser to reach men is with our channel,” Massie said.
Kupinski said The Outdoor Channel, as a “fledgling network,” is impressive because it is relatively profitable.
“Most companies at the range of subscriber levels would be showing sizable losses and this company, we're estimating roughly flat earnings, which is pretty incredible given its early stage.”
Despite their cutbacks on outdoorsmen activities, ESPN and other sports channels present some competition to The Outdoor Channel.
Still, at its current pace, and with the addition of Werner, Massie is optimistic that the channel will reach its goal of 40 million subscribers over the coming years. “In 10 years I expect to see, just like any other television network, where it's part of your cable lineup and your satellite lineup,” Massie said.
“And anybody that enjoys hunting or fishing or outdoor programming will have a great source for that. The type of stuff they love.”
David Berlin is a Union-Tribune news assistant.
david.berlin@uniontrib.com
