The Ski Channel Targets August Launch
Fledgling Cable Network Also Acquires Programming Rights
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/19/2008 2:01:00 AM EDT
According to a highly placed source, The Ski Channel’s backers targeted August for the launch of the channel. Initial plans had been to get out of the gate in the first half of the year.
Channel founder Steve Bellamy declined to comment.
But Bellamy wasn’t shy about a bunch of new rights deals to help fill the channel, the target of which extends well beyond skiing enthusiasts to fans of a variety of mountain sports, winter and summer, including snowboarding, hiking, biking, backpacking, climbing and even snowshoe racing.
On that note, Bellamy said the channel picked up the TV rights to a potential United States Snowshoe Association series of events, as well as the World Cup.
But topping the list of new acquisitions was the TV rights to the Skiers World series, which will include both new episodes and hundreds of the syndicated show’s episodes stretching back 28 years.
Additional programming pickups include the Level 1 library of action-sports films and rights to the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colo.
Bellamy is the former founder of Tennis Channel who traded in his racquet for snowshoes in an effort to capture the upscale mountain-sports audience.
The channel has carriage deals with Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Cox Communications, with several more agreements expected to be announced within the next couple of weeks.
And looking to build more partnerships, the channel will get to air a promo video for the channel to 1,500 resort owners at the National Ski Areas Association’s May 28-31 conference in San Francisco, Bellamy said.
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