A long “town hall meeting” between officials of the Men’s Outdoor & Recreation channel and more than 100 producers and other involved parties yesterday afternoon sounded what was unofficially the death knell of the group that characterized itself as “America’s fishing and hunting network.”
In the meeting, representatives of the company explained that the company had filed a motion with the courts seeking to be removed from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings for the purpose of liquidation. The court now has the option to either grant the petition or deny it and appoint a trustee.
Either way, officials say, MOR is, well, no more.
The death knell of the channel began when DISH Network pulled MOR from its satellite distribution network earlier this month. That action effectively eliminated forty percent of MOR’s viewer universe.
The loss also severely crippled MOR’s cash flows, forcing the network into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing left little doubt MOR owners Turner Media Group (a/k/a The Media Group felt EchoStar, the parent company of DISH was attempting to kill the company:
“Up until January of 2007, TMG was a thriving business with annual billings in 2006 of approximately $200 million dollars and ZERO debt. In late 2006, despite a long-term preceding relationship of nearly a decade absent any failure or default on the part of TMG and during which TMG generated and delivered to EchoStar nearly $1 billion in revenue, TMG’s largest client, EchoStar, demanded that TMG amend its network carriage agreement, only one year into its five-year term and enter into certain written agreements imposing numerous onerous and burdensome terms and conditions upon TMG.”
This Tuesday, apparently to the surprise of TMG officials, DirecTV pulled the plug as well, effectively ending any hope of recovery. Today, all that remains of MOR is a skeleton crew of workers – all of whom know their time, too, is limited. That, and a group of now distribution – less television programs, producers and their sponsors, all wondering what’s next.
We’ll keep you posted.
–Jim Shepherd
Related posts:
- The Media Group Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Outdoor Channel and Bonnier Corporation Form Multi-Year Strategic Partnership
- New Outdoor Network to Debut In February
- Michael Waddell Inks Exclusive Multi-Year Endorsement Agreement With Outdoor Channel
- Outdoor Channel Announces Acquisition Of Winnercomm Inc.
Robert Scott
