The Ski Channel has become the new TV home of the Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race.
The Primal Quest race--10 days, 600 miles--packs a variety of endurance tests--biking, trail running, paddling, orienteering--into one competition.
In the past, the race has gotten coverage on CBS, ABC, and ESPN2.
Ski Channel will also team with the U.S. Adventure Racing Association to cover its national championship, as well as other adventure racing competitions.
Ski Channel would seem an obvious home for the race. While the channel, which launched last December, has Ski in its name, its portfolio includes a variety of extreme sports and mountain-related activities, including snowboarding, hiking, biking and more.
Channel founder Steve Bellamy says the channel is now in just under 20 million homes. At launch, the ad-supported VOD offering was available to 15 million households via deals with Time Warner, Cox, Brighthouse, DirecTV, and Verizon FiOS.
The Ski Channel's programming is shot in HD, but is being delivered in SD at the outset to reach the widest audience. The network is targeted at ski-resort areas and their upscale residents
The channel launched in the teeth of a blizzard of bad economic news, but Bellamy has said the upside of that timing is that it put fewer revenue expectations on the channel at the outset.
