OLN, the cable channel known until last July as the Outdoor Life Network, will change its name to Versus in September.Well, thanks heavens OLN...whoops, I mean, "Versus"...is getting beyond that pesky "outdoor filter."
OLN president Gavin Harvey said the new name captures the essence of where the Comcast Corp.-owned channel is going now and in the future.
"We're all about outdoor sports, and we're not only building on that but also opening it up to other competitive sports and other activities," Harvey said.
[...]
He said OLN's new programming goes beyond the "outdoor filter" that the brand had been about.
Upon reflection, I have an announcement to make...the television network for which I labor, The Outdoor Channel, will NOT be changing its name. That's right, folks! You're not going to wake up tomorrow and discover that we've morphed into BOB, CAROL, TED, ALICE, SNORT, ITCH, SCRATCH or FART. I guess we're having trouble getting beyond that "outdoor filter" thingie.
There was some talk about replacing the official Outdoor Channel logo and mascot, the MOOSE, with something more gentile, say a beaver, or a koala bear — everybody loves koala bears! — except we couldn't figure out what caliber handguns would fit their little paws. I was thinking that a koala with a reversed baseball cap, a Kahr Arms .9mm and one of those Kel-Tec folding .223 carbines slung on her little furry shoulder would send the right message, but that's just me, and I've already got THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS DUCK!
The more I think about it, though, the more I like FART — EVERYTHING FOR EVERYBODY, REALLY! Anybody got $100 million to help me get this baby off the ground?
Remember when CBS(?) cancelled all its Country Corn comedies like The Beverely Hillbillies when they were still riding high on the ratings heap? Its probably only a matter of time before the Outdoor Channel dumps the hunting and shooting shows for "kinder, gentler" prpgramming.
ReplyDeleteVersus means "against". What is OLN against?
ReplyDeleteSure glad I didn't switch to Direct TV from Dish Network when Dish dropped OLN. (or OLN dropped them, it's not real clear which).
ReplyDeleteWonder what will happen to the two shooting shows now on OLN?
Didn't Sport Afield go through this MBA re-branding crapola and just about went belly up? I seem to get a lot of "Please come back, we're feeling better about hunting and guns" from them.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it will be like Tech TV. Comcast bought it and merged it with its G4 channel. Gradually, all Tech TV programmig was removed or rebranded.
ReplyDeleteNow, there is no more Tech TV.
Think about it.
They can call OLN anything they want I stopped watching it. Now the Outdoor channel is a diffrent matter it has the shows I watch , Cowboys ,Amrerican Rifleman and Shooting Gallery
ReplyDeleteTOC as shows I used to watch, like Shooting Gallery, Cowboys and American Rifleman.
ReplyDeleteThe schedual is so messed up I don't see them anymore.
We need more interesting shows then catching a bass or shooting a turkey in West Coast primetime.
There's nothing on before work and the same afterwork.
Shooting Gallery is on at 1:00a,2:30p or 6:00p. When am I in front of the TV then???
I've almost stopped going to TOC because all the good shows are now in a bad time slot.
KMitch200 sez,
ReplyDeleteWhen I screwed up and got OLN instead of TOC, I thought maybe it would be OK....WRONG!!!
OLN blows...no other way to put it.
They've had two good shows on shooting in the last 6 months but now it's all hockey. (yawn)
Or "Survivor-New Delhi!".
(I'd actually watch that one, the others bore me to tears)
If Cox Cable would unass their head and get TOC, life would be good!
Is OLN (Versus) still going to air Shooting Gallery long term? It seems the schedule has changed and my DVR recorded what it thought was Shooting Gallery, only to find out when I pressed "Play" that it was some boating show... uughh.
ReplyDeleteI get both the Outdoor Network and OLN, but I would prefer to watch Shooting Gallery, Gun-Tec TV, American Rifleman, etc. on OLN becuase they've been in Hi-Def up to this point.
Word is that OLN has cancelled or did not renew the contrast for Shooting USA and Sighting In. No word on the show moving to a new channel and since the Outdoor Channel hasn't made any announcements - and they already have the best show on TV - we can assume they aren't moving to that channel.
ReplyDeleteI think that sends a clear message about where OLN/Versus is headed in the future. No guns.
Have you tried Aubrey Chernick? He flushed a seven-figure sum down the crapper known as Pajamas Media. If he fell for that, he'll fall for anything.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to correct my previous post above. I actually watch Shooting Gallery and the other "gun shows" on TOC2 HD, which is an Outdoor Channel, not OLN.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the question still stands: why were Shooting Gallery and Gun-Tec TV not on when they normally are? Did the schedule change?
If TOC changes the times on Shooting Gallery one more time (unless it is to go back to the better times they used to have) I am going to - in written form via letter - stick my foot up somebody's ass at TOC. Your show is awesome, Mike, so please tell the powers that be at TOC to stop screwing with your time slot.
ReplyDeleteI still miss American Sprortsman with the late Curt Gowdy.
ReplyDelete