• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 14, 2012

The Sportsman Channel has a deal with Chevrolet that includes exposure in on-air promos for programming launching later this month. The network, which targets hunters and anglers, is using a “Made in America” theme for its debut programming.

Spots end with a plug for the Chevy Silverado, tabbed the “official truck of the outdoors.”  The Silverado will be the presenting sponsor of the “Made in America” premiere week, as the Sportsman Channel launches 22 new series. Chevy was part of a previous sponsorship effort with the network, where it began advertising in April.

The campaign, which launches June 25, includes the on-air spots and ads in niche print and digital properties owned by InterMedia Partners, which is also Sportsman Channel’s parent. The network, which is in about 31 million homes and recently became Nielsen rated, has produced a lengthy advertorial to run in magazines such as Guns & Ammo and Fly Fisherman.

Chevy sponsors a "Silverado Saturdays" four-hour programming block on the Outdoor Channel, a Sportsman Channel competitor. 

The Sportsman Channel has been trying to add more non-endemic advertisers and has prime-time programming blocks sponsored by 5-Hour Energy and Nikon. MJ Cavanagh heads ad sales for the network and IMO-owned GMC, the Gospel Music Channel.

Gavin Harvey, who once oversaw the Outdoor Life Network, has been CEO of Sportsman Channel since mid-2010. In the past few years, the network has seen its distribution rise by about 6 million homes.