BASS and the Pursuit Channel have agreed to a new multiyear agreement that will see “The Bassmasters” fishing program airing on the outdoor network. Under the three-year agreement, Pursuit will air 26 episodes on Saturdays during Q1 and Q2 of ‘19, with each show repeating on the following Sunday morning. Other times will be announced later. “The Bassmasters” show features programming from the Bassmaster Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic. BASS will continue to air “The Bassmasters” on ESPN2, as it has done since ‘00. Episodes of the show will air on Pursuit at least 30 days after they have debuted on ESPN2. Because the first event of the ‘19 Elite Series season does not occur until early February, the first episodes of Bassmaster competition to appear on Pursuit will be re-airs of Elite events and Classics of recent years. Episodes will air initially on Pursuit during the programming block, “Walmart Reel Life Saturdays presented by Berkley and Abu Garcia.” There are also plans to air some vignettes or similar miniprograms on Pursuit in the future that will not be on ESPN2. BASS CEO Bruce Akin said, “More fans will be able to enjoy their favorite sport wherever and whenever they want to follow it. With an additional 52 hours of programming on Pursuit, plus many more hours of Bassmaster live streaming coverage and another 30 hours on ESPN Classic, we will increase the total hours of video coverage by more than 50%.” Terms of the deal between BASS and Pursuit were not disclosed.
NOT RELATED TO OTHER MOVE: In September, the world of pro bass fishing received a big shakeup when Major League Fishing announced its new tournament circuit. Seventy-four anglers who were on BASS’ roster left to join MLF’s Bass Pro Tour. “Our partnership with the Pursuit Channel is not in response to what’s being done by any other tour,” said Akin. “We were in discussions with Pursuit for more than a year before the agreement was finalized. Having said that, being on an outdoor programming network that is growing rapidly in households, by 15% this year alone, will help solidify our position as the premier bass tournament organization in the minds of the fans and the sportfishing industry.”
