• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 13, 2007

Outdoor Channel Holdings said Friday that ad revenue at the hunting and fishing network jumped some 19% in the second quarter as it launched a broadband channel, added VOD offerings and continued its re-branding efforts.

Ad dollars climbed to $6.8 million. Overall revenues were up 15.2% to $11.5 million--with net income coming in at $351,000, versus a loss from a year ago.

In the new media area, the company launched outdoorchannel.tv as a broadband outlet and increased the number of hours of VOD programming from 15 to 25, which offers HD VOD, too. The net recently altered its on-air look and took on a new tagline, "America's Leader in Outdoor TV," that came with a new "mountain peak" logo to replace the traditional "moose."

In some 30 million homes, the company said its ad sales position has been helped by the recent bankruptcy filing of competitor Men's Outdoor & Recreation Channel.

CEO Roger Werner said the broadband channel represents "a major milestone that underscores our commitment to extend" the network across multiple platforms.

Werner has overseen outdoor-themed programming at ESPN, and was a founder of the former Outdoor Life Network. He said the company remains focused on signing carriage deals that increase distribution, an initiative that hit a bump in June when Comcast shifted the channel to a tier costing subscribers an extra $4.95 a month. The move affects some 500,000 homes, but it's unclear how many subscribers have been lost.