Sportsman Channel is an American sports-oriented

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previ ...

and

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...

owned by the Outdoor Sportsman Group subsidiary of

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) is an American sports and entertainment holding company based in Denver, Colorado. Originally known as Kroenke Sports Enterprises, it was started in 1999 by businessman Stan Kroenke to be the parent company ...

. The channel is dedicated to programming about outdoor sports, including

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

. As of February 2015, Sportsman Channel is available to approximately 34.1 million pay television households (29.3% of households with at least one television set) in the United States.

History

The channel was launched on April 1, 2003, and was founded by Muskego,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

businessmen C. Michael Cooley and Todd D. Hansen. In June 2007, the channel was purchased by the

InterMedia Outdoor Holdings Outdoor Sportsman Group, Inc. (a.k.a. Outdoor Sportsman), a subsidiary of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE), is an outdoors media group in the United States. They publish 19 hunting, fishing and shooting magazines, and own the Sportsman & Outd ...

group, a division of private equity group

InterMedia Partners InterMedia Advisors, LLC (a..k.a. InterMedia Partners), is a private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in the media sector. The firm, which was founded in 2005 by notable private equity investor L ...

. In March 2009, Sportsman Channel appointed InterMedia Outdoor Executive Vice President Willy Burkhardt as the channel's president. Then, in 2014, Sportsman Channel & its parent company, InterMedia Outdoor Holdings, were acquired by

, resulting in the company's rename to Outdoor Sportsman Group.

Programming

Programming on Sportsman Channel includes various shows pertaining to hunting (both by

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

and through

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

), fishing and firearms. An hour-long condensed version of ''Cam & Co.'', a news magazine/

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featu ...

program produced by the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

for

SiriusXM Patriot SiriusXM Patriot is a conservative talk radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 125 and XM Satellite Radio channel 12 The channel features exclusive hosts such as Cam & Company froNRANews(until June 2018), David Webb, and Andrew Wilkow. I ...

, airs each weeknight. Most other shows on the channel air in half-hour timeslots. Sportsman Channel also airs

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

s during the overnight hours. In September 2009, the channel announced it would carry up to 100 original programs on its schedule starting in the fourth quarter of 2009. In March 2014, the channel premiered ''

Amazing America with Sarah Palin ''Amazing America with Sarah Palin'' is an outdoors-themed reality television series starring Sarah Palin. Co-hosts for the first season included Jerry Carroll and actor Mark Christopher Lawrence. The show is produced by Pilgrim Films and Telev ...

'', an outdoor program hosted by the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate; the program was renewed for a second season slated to air in early 2015.

Sportsman Channel HD

Sportsman Channel HD is a high definition simulcast feed of Sportsman Channel, that broadcasts in the

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scree ...

resolution format. On January 19, 2010, the channel announced it would launch an HD simulcast feed the following week on January 25 of that year. In February 2010,

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling ...

became the first provider to carry the channel's HD feed. The HD feed is now available on various providers including

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its e ...

, and

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

Carriage

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

began carrying the channel on January 21, 2009.

AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states.Verizon FiOS removed the channel from the lineup.

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

removed the channel from their lineup nationwide on October 30, 2017.

Former broadcast television affiliates

The Sportsman Channel was once available on some broadcast stations. However, when it reached a carriage agreement deal with DirecTV in January 2009, giving it national coverage, it became a cable and satellite only channel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sportsman Channel Kroenke Sports & Entertainment Companies based in Wisconsin Sports television networks in the United States English-language television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2003