• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 10, 2011

The Outdoor Channel has acquired rights to rerun B.A.S.S. fishing shows about 30 days after they appear on competitor ESPN2. Hour-long "Bassmaster" programs will debut March 28, and the network will run them for 26 weeks under the deal.

The network, which features fishing on Fridays, has recently acquired various fishing programs, though B.A.S.S. offerings may be a cut above. The recent acquisitions include "Buccaneers and Bones," "The Madfin Shark Series," "Spanish Fly" and "Zona's Awesome Fishing Show," among others.

Outdoor Channel aims to program nights based on themes, such as off-road motorsports on Mondays and big-game hunting on Tuesdays.

Nielsen estimates Outdoor Channel has 34.5 million subscribers. The company said in a government filing that its subscriber fees from various operators average about $0.05 per subscriber a month. In cases where an operator offers the network on an a la carte basis, the parties enter into revenue-sharing arrangements.

In addition to ESPN2, Versus and Sportsman Channel are competitors as it targets males ages 18 to 54.

As it looks to build its digital offerings, the network, which has been active on the acquisition front under CEO Roger Werner, acquired MyOutdoorTV.com last month.

In the fourth quarter, ad revenue jumped 18% to $11.2 million, partly due to digital sales and increases in time-buy dollars.

Company-wide net income was up to $1.47 million from about $565,000 the year before.