Photo: Operation Bass Irwin Jacobs says the Operation Bass-PAX TV marriage is "perfect."

New Talk Show-Style Format
Live Broadcasts Highlight PAX Deal

Thursday, August 16, 2001

Today Operation Bass' move to PAX TV was officially announced. Highlighted in the announcement was that PAX "will bring live coverage of a competitive bass fishing series to network television for the first time."

"For the first time in history" Operation Bass stated that there will be "live broadcasts of each Wal-Mart FLW Tour tournament." Also on PAX will be "an additional 17 weeks of live programming in a magazine-style (talk show-like) format with segments covering outdoor sporting news, guest appearances by fishing legends, angler profiles and news from the fishing world."

The series will include 27 hours of programming, 24 of which will be live. This represents a 30 percent increase in TV hours for the FLW Tour. And as BassFan reported earlier, the tour will have a guaranteed air time of 3 p.m. (EST) on Saturdays.

"Since we began our historic partnership with Wal-Mart, we have never stopped seeking new opportunities to bring professional fishing into as many homes as possible through television," said Operation Bass chairman Irwin Jacobs.

"From the beginning, our goal was to build a sport that promotes an appreciation of the great outdoors and exemplifies family togetherness and family values," he said. In that light, "the PAX TV-Operation Bass marriage is perfect."

PAX Broadcast Reach

PAX TV, the nation's newest broadcast network, has a market penetration rate of 84 percent, which means it reaches more than 84 million households, "which exceeds any other sports programming network," Operation Bass claimed.

PAX stated that over the past year it experienced 27 percent growth in the key 25-54 demographic category.

Sports on PAX

PAX TV does do some sports programming, but to date hasn't done much. It currently shares the broadcasting rights of the Senior PGA Tour with CNBC (NBC has a 32 percent stake in PAX) and this year was the sole broadcaster of the International Winter Special Olympics. In 2000, it televised the Olympic Trials for various sports.

JM Still Involved

As reported earlier by BassFan, JM Associates -- the award-winning Little Rock, Ark.-based television production firm -- will continue to produce the Wal-Mart FLW Tour program. JM has produced FLW Tour programs since the tour's debut in 1997.

PAX Statement

"Operation Bass has been a leader in pioneering new developments in competitive fishing, from record cash purses to live television coverage of events," said Bill Scott, PAX TV's president of programming. "We look forward to helping Operation Bass continue to elevate the sport of competitive bass fishing and expanding the popular Wal-Mart FLW Tour brand to reach a larger national audience than ever before."

"We are making a major commitment of network time and effort to the launch of the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour season and to each broadcast," Scott added. "The entire PAX TV programming team is involved in this effort."

Co-Marketing

The Wal-Mart FLW Tour will be promoted on the PAX TV web site (www.pax.tv) and the PAX-FLW partnership will also be promoted in more than 2,600 Wal-Mart stores.