Outdoor Channel Holdings (NASDAQ:OUTD) announced a three-way merger consolidating the Outdoor Channel with The Sportsman Channel (owned by by Intermedia Holdings, LLC), and with InterMedia Outdoors Inc., which produces 20 websites and 15 outdoor magazines, including Guns & Ammo and Petersen’s Hunting.
This merger will create InterMedia Outdoor Holdings Inc. (“IMOH Inc.”), which now becomes the nation’s largest media and content company serving outdoor enthusiasts. The merger consolidates control over television, print, and online media in the hunting, shooting, and fishing categories. That’s probably good for IMOH’s investors, but not so good for outdoor industry advertisers. Now that Intermedia has co-opted its main competitor in the cable TV arena, we expect IMOH to demand higher ad fees.
Tom Hornish, President and CEO of Outdoor Channel Holdings (the “Company”), commented: “Combining the resources of these three companies will allow us to better serve the consumers, distributors and advertisers in this robust marketplace. We will have the highest quality content, the top brands and the greatest reach.” Jeff Paro, CEO of InterMedia Outdoors, Inc. stated, “This is the culmination of a long and dedicated effort by our team to build a truly multimedia enterprise. IMOH Inc. will serve all of its consumers in all media across all platforms.”
Gavin Harvey, CEO of The Sportsman Channel, said, “We built Sportsman from a small cable network five years ago into one of the pre-eminent brands in the outdoor space. I am excited by what we have achieved and even more excited about the prospects for the combined company. The marriage of two cable networks with the reach and brands of InterMedia Outdoors is a truly unique proposition in the cable media landscape.”
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A new high-octane, gun-oriented TV show, Rapid Fire, debuts October 3, 2012 on the Outdoor Channel. Rapid Fire focuses on military weapons, in particular, full-auto machine guns and other select-fire hardware. The Rapid Fire preview video confirms the new show features plenty of action, with reactive targets, and lots of lead going downrange. The show is hosted by Top Shot Season 1 Champion Iain Harrison, a talented shooter with military training in all types of small arms. Harrison will be aided by co-host Mike Seeklander, Training Director for the U.S. Shooting Academy. While firing legendary automatic weapons is the centerpiece of the show, Rapid Fire will also provide historical background information on a variety of weapons, explaining their design and their role in history.
Rapid Fire Preview Video (Lots of Action!)
Watch the video above to see Harrison and Seeklander try out everything from a hand-crank Gatling to a modern, motorized mini-gun. Sixteen full-auto weapons are featured, including SAWs, BARs, Thompsons, Vietnam-era M60s, HK PDWs and much more. Rapid Fire airs at 8:30 pm and 11:30 pm ET on the Outdoor Channel.
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This week’s edition of Shooting USA, which airs Wednesday, March 21st, features the 2011 Bianchi Cup. This competition is one of the most prestigious and popular events in the world of handgun shooting. Officially, the annual competition in Columbia, Missouri is known as the National Championship of NRA Action Pistol. But to everybody, world-wide, it’s the Bianchi Cup, the trophy named for one of the founders, John Bianchi. In the past 30 years the match has become the richest handgun tournament in the world, with cash and prizes for the best scores on four stages of fire. Shooting USA will spotlight top male and female Bianchi Cup competitors in both wheelgun and and semi-auto pistol divisions. Along with North American shooters, the Bianchi Cup draws top handgun competitors from around the globe. Shooting USA airs Wednesday Nights, on the Outdoor Channel, at 3:00 pm, 8:00 pm, and 12:00 midnight (Eastern Time).
Bianchi Cup — Classic Course of Fire
The MidwayUSA/NRA Bianchi Cup is a combination of Speed and Accuracy. Competitors shoot from both standing and prone positions and are also required to shoot with both strong and weak hands at various stages. Stages may combine stationary and moving targets. As conceived by former police officer and holster-maker John Bianchi, the Bianchi Cup originated in 1979 as a Law Enforcement Training match. The Course of Fire consists of four separate matches:
The Practical Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at distances from 10 yards to 50 yards under varying time limits.
The Barricade Event: From within shooting boxes and behind barricades, a shooter fires at targets on either side of the barricade at different distances and under varying time limits.
The Falling Plate Event: From the appropriate shooting line, the shooter fires at 8 inch round steel plates arranged in banks of six at distances from 10 to 25 yards under varying time limits.
The Moving Target Event: From within shooting boxes at distances ranging from 10 to 25 yards, the shooter fires at a target moving from left to right with the target being exposed for only 6 seconds.
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The popular Friends of NRA TV show, hosted by Jessie Harrison and Matt Duff, launched its second season this past Sunday. In Season 2, Matt and Jesse return for a new year’s worth of adventures that take them across the United States. See Season 2 highlights in the video below:
In this fast-paced TV series Matt and Jesse travel around the country. Along the way they hunt, fish, shoot, and show how Friends of NRA fund-raising efforts help local, state, and national shooting programs. In this entertaining series, the hosts try out new outdoor activities each week — from hog-hunting to tarpon-fishing. Friends of NRA airs on the Outdoor Channel Sundays at 10:00 PM EST.
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Babes with Bullets™ is a three-day “immersion” camp program, led by a professional all-female staff, teaching novice women how to shoot handguns and some camps also offer rifle training. The head instructor is Kay Miculek, who has won multiple “action pistol” and multi-gun World and National championships. The camps also accommodate women who want to move up in competitions such as U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) or IDPA.
“This is an unusual training opportunity” stated Miculek “with all-female handgun champions picked for their abilities to work with novice women in a way that is empowering without being over-powering.” According to Miculek, many of the campers will shoot a gun for the first time and after completing the 3-day program they will have shot hundreds of rounds from various calibers of handguns. Miculek added, “Each woman will leave from this camp with a new life skill. Our emphasis is to show the ladies that shooting is a safe, enjoyable, and rewarding sport for women of all ages.”
According to Camp Director Deb Ferns, there are over 2,100 camper alumnae, ages 18 to 78, the majority having very little experience with a gun prior to camp. Ferns explained: “Think of this camp as part firearms training, part adventure camp and part pajama party”. Deb Ferns provides an introduction to the program in the video below.
Watch Babes With Bullets on the Outdoor Channel
Babes with Bullets has been a popular feature on the Outdoor Channel. Videos of Camp training sessions can be previewed at www.outdoorchannel.com/babeswithbullets. Camp registration forms and additional information are found at www.BabeswithBullets.com. If you have questions, contact Deb Ferns at (520) 331-3400 or e-mail Deb [at] BabeswithBullets.com
Smith & Wesson Supplies Guns for Camp Participants
The cost of camp is $675, which includes housing, food, range fees, instructor costs and use of complimentary firearms, provided by Smith & Wesson. Campers also qualify for discounts on Smith & Wesson handguns and rifles.
2012 Babes with Bullets Camp Locations
March 16th to 18th, 2012 Rocky Creek Ranch near Sarasota, Florida. Handgun camp for both novice and intermediate women.
April 13th to 15th, 2012 Bang-Inc.com, home range of Kay Miculek, located outside Shreveport, Louisiana. “Combo Camp” for novice and intermediates, offering two days of handgun work and one day of AR-15 rifle training. Three full range days.
June 29th to July 1st, 2012 Routt County Rifle (and Pistol) Club near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Novice and intermediate camp with lodging located near the range.
September 7th to 10th, 2012 Rockcastle Shooting Center in Rockcastle, Kentucky. New “Combo Camp” offering beginner and intermediate handgun and rifle training.
October 12th to 14th, 2012 Tucson Rifle Club in Tucson, Arizona. Novice and intermediate camp at home range of camp director Deb Ferns.
November 2nd to 4th, 2012
Babes with Bullets is planning a Texas “Combo Camp” of handgun and rifle training first weekend of November. Site TBA.
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Here’s your chance to see a wide selection of interesting new products from SHOT Show 2011. Today, Wednesday June 8th, ShootingUSA re-broadcasts its hour-long SHOT Show Special, originally filmed on-site at the Sands Convention Center in January. This 60-minute telecast features nearly 50 new products, including Colt Centennial 1911s, Smith & Wesson 1911s and Performance Center Hunting Revolvers, new Die Sets from RCBS, Les Baer Monolith AR10s, Mossberg Tactical Shotguns, Ruger Mark III Pistols, Hogue stocks for Savages, new Wood LaserGrips from Crimson Trace, and Thompson Center’s new Venture hunting rifles.
Shooting USA’s hour-long SHOT Show Special airs on the Outdoor Channel on June 8, 2011 at the following times:
Shooting USA has officially become a one-hour television show. The “Sighting In” segments will no longer air as a separate half-hour series. Instead, “Sighting In” will be included in the new one-hour format on the Outdoor Channel. Look for Shooting USA as a single listing in your cable and satellite menus. Here are air times for the Shooting USA hour, Wednesdays :
Shooting USA SHOT Show Special on May 11
The next hour-long Shooting USA episode airs Wednesday May 11, 2011 — and it’s worth watching. On May 11, Shooting USA serves up its SHOT Show special from the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. Shooting USA’s reporters interview gun industry notables and spotlight new products. You’ll see some of the best new firearms for 2011, along with other new outdoor gear. If you could not attend SHOT Show, don’t miss the May 11 episode of Shooting USA.
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Tonight, on the Outdoor Channel, you can watch four of America’s best female action and multi-gun shooters. In tonight’s episode of the Shooting Gallery on the Outdoor Channel, ace USPSA shooters Julie Golob, Tasha Hanish, Lisa Munson, and Randi Rogers show off their skills with pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Golob, captain of Team Smith & Wesson, is a National Champion Pistol Shooter who is now taking up the multi-gun challenge. Hanish, one of the top shooters for Team FNH, is a two-time USPSA Multi-Gun National Champion (Women’s Tactical Division). Lisa Munson has captured 11 National Pistol titles over the years, and now competes with Team Smith & Wesson, along with Golob. Randi Rogers (aka ‘Holy Terror’) is a multi-time Cowboy Action Ladies World Champion who has been shooting modern pistols with Team Glock for the past few years. Randi has won numerous tournaments for Glock. If you ever get a chance to watch Randi shoot a lever gun (from her cowboy action days) — you will be amazed. In speed events, using her lever gun, she could beat most male competitors who are using modern semi-auto rifles. She is that fast and accurate.
Preview Tonight’s Shooting Gallery Episode
Here is a preview from Tonight’s Shooting Gallery, hosted by Michael Bane.
Outdoor Channel Airtimes are: 03-16-11 at 3:30pm, 7:00pm, 9:00pm | 03-17-11 at 3:00am.
Tasha Hanish at Multi-Gun Nationals — You Go, Girl!
In the following video, taken at the 2010 USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals, you can see Tasha Hanish blaze through a 3-gun stage. Tasha starts with her 9mm pistol, then grabs her shotgun to blast steel plates, and finally engages a bank of 200-yard targets with her FNH SCAR rifle. Tasha won the Ladies’ 2010 Multi-Gun Championship in the Tactical Class.
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Tonight, Feb. 23, at 8:00 pm on the Outdoor Channel, Shooting USA features End of Trail, the Cowboy Action World Championship. Hosted annually at the SASS Founders Ranch in New Mexico, End of Trail attracts over 1,000 shooters, hailing from 50 states and many foreign countries. SASS, the Single Action Shooting Society, is one of the most popular shooting organizations on the planet, having issued over 90,000 member badges. For SASS members, End of Trail represents the Superbowl and World Series combined.
If you like multi-gun competition, you’ll enjoy watching Cowboy Action Matches. The top male and female shooters are experts with three kinds of firearms: Lever Rifle, Single-Action Revolver, and Shotgun (which can be a double-barrel side-by-side, or a pump, or even an 1887 lever-action). The guns must be originals or reproductions made prior to 1898 to be used in competition. A typical stage will require 5 shots from each of two six guns, ten rounds from the rifle, chambered in a pistol caliber, and 6 to 8 shotgun rounds.
24 Rounds from Four Guns in under 13 Seconds
To give you an idea of the action you can see tonight on Shooting USA, here is a video of past world Champion Spencer Hogland, aka “Lead Dispencer”. In this video, Spencer fires 24 rounds, with four guns, in just 12.81 seconds (look at the timer in lower right corner). Spencer shows blazing speed with his lever gun and note how quickly he loads his shotgun. Fast loading is key to a successful stage run. Unlike modern multi-gun comps, normally Cowboy Action Shooters must start with empty shotguns.
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On Sunday, January 2, the Friends of NRA television show will premiere at 10:30pm EST on the Outdoor Channel. The Show is co-hosted by professional shooter Jessie Abbate and former MLB player Matt Duff (host of the Buck Commander series). Based on the Preview Video below, it appears the show will have high production values and be entertaining. Click Here for Guide to Future Episodes
Click on Screen to Start Video
In the show, Matt and Jessie travel across the United States to explore the world of NRA’s grassroots fund-raising program known as Friends of NRA, which provides grants for firearms education classes, construction and maintenance of shooting ranges and various youth programs.
Hundreds of Friends of NRA banquets are held across the country each year. Matt and Jessie will attend events and meet the people whose generous donations help the world of shooting sports. Here is the the Outdoor Channel’s description of the upcoming show:
Whether they’re spending time at the Whittington Center, showcasing the world’s best at the Bianchi Cup, going behind the scenes on an exclusive Black Bear Hunt in Alaska, or introducing America to our unsung heroes during a Wounded Warrior Elk Hunt — Matt & Jessie will go everywhere and explore everything to uncover the unseen facets of the shooting [world].
Matt Duff (L) and Jessie Abbate (R) Host New Friends of NRA TV Show.
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Impossible Shots, a spin-off of the Shooting USA TV show, is now the most-watched series on the Outdoor Channel’s Wednesday Night line-up of gun-related broadcasts. Reflecting its growing popularity, Impossible Shots will now also air on Saturdays, at these times: 4:30 PM EST, 3:30 CST, 2:30 MT, 1:30 PT. Impossible Shots features amazing trick-shooting challenges performed by six top professionals: Pistoleros Bub Munden, Jerry Miculek, and Gil Guerra, rifleman George Sutton, and archer Byron Ferguson. There are also regular appearances by Team Winchester’s Patrick Flanigan, considered the world’s fastest shotgun shooter. In the video below, Flanigan shoots 12 shells in just 1.442 seconds!
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Every Wednesday on the Outdoor Channel, starting at 4:00 pm, you can enjoy a full line-up of firearms-related television shows. That’s right, you can sit down and soak up 7 hours of shooting broadcasts without changing a channel. That may be overkill, but it’s nice to know there’s plenty of firearms-related content every week, all in one place. Here is a typical Wednesday-night schedule for the Outdoor Channel (specific offerings and times subject to change). MidwayUSA is to be commended for sponsoring many of these shows.
4:00 PM: American Rifleman Television
4:30 PM: Shooting USA
5:00 PM: Sighting In with Shooting USA
5:30 PM: Guns & Ammo Television
6:00 PM: Hunter’s Specialties Outdoors
6:30 PM: Inside USA Shooting
7:00 PM: Step Outside
7:30 PM: MidwayUSA’s Cowboys
8:00 PM: Shooting Gallery presented by Crimson Trace
8:30 PM: Shooting USA
9:00 PM: Sighting In with Shooting USA
9:30 PM: Guns & Ammo Television
10:00 PM: American Rifleman Television
10:30 PM: MidwayUSA’s Cowboys
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Outdoor Channel Holdings (NASDAQ:OUTD) announced a three-way merger consolidating the Outdoor Channel with The Sportsman Channel (owned by by Intermedia Holdings, LLC), and with InterMedia Outdoors Inc., which produces 20 websites and 15 outdoor magazines, including Guns & Ammo and Petersen’s Hunting.
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