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Outdoor Channel taps CEO
(Press-Enterprise, The (Riverside, CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 18--Roger L. Werner Jr., a former ESPN chief executive and co-founder of two other national cable sports channels, has been named chief executive officer of Temecula-based The Outdoor Channel, the channel's chairman said Tuesday.
"I am greatly honored to have such a proven industry veteran as Roger Werner joining our team," said board chairman Perry T. Massie in a news release. "With Roger's successful background establishing networks targeted at men and the outdoor-sports enthusiast, I truly believe he is the right person to lead our company to the next phase of growth."
His experience and industry contacts should help the network as it pushes to increase its subscriber base, said an investment analyst who follows the company.
"He's certainly familiar with the cable-network business," said Robert Routh, managing director for Jefferies Inc. in New York. "He certainly has the relationships. He should be a big asset to the company."
Werner needs to concentrate on adding subscribers, Routh said. More viewers will mean it can command higher ad rates and affiliate fees.
While Werner headed Outdoor Life Network, the company's value increased significantly, Routh said. A 34 percent interest in OLN and Speedvision sold for $80 million to $100 million in 1998, according to Multichannel News. Three years later, Comcast paid $513 million for an 83 percent stake in OLN, according to the same publication. Werner was the networks' president and chief executive officer from 1995 to 2001.
One longtime acquaintance said Werner has been successful as an executive and entrepreneur in part because of his understanding of viewer preferences and his contacts among cable and satellite providers.
"Roger must see a tremendous opportunity," said Mark Mullen, managing director at Daniels & Associates, where Werner helped launch Los Angeles-based Prime Ticket. "Otherwise, he wouldn't do it. He can pretty much do anything he wants, with a number of potential partners."
Werner will become a director of Outdoor Channel Holdings Inc., which owns the channel.
Calls to the company for comment were not returned.
Werner, 56, has worked in the television programming industry since 1979, when he became a consultant with ESPN. He later worked with Bill Daniels to help develop several regional sports networks, including Prime Ticket (now Fox Sports West). In partnership with other investors, Werner developed Speedvision (now Speed Channel) and Outdoor Life Network (now Versus); he also served briefly as executive vice president of the ABC Television Network Group.
Werner will assume his new duties Nov. 10. In the news release, he said he'll focus on product improvement and quickly growing the channel's subscriber base.
Welcoming Werner will be Daren Miller, senior product manager for Qwest Broadband Services. The Outdoor Channel and Qwest this week announced a deal that put the station on expanded basic tiers in Phoenix, Denver and other markets.
"The Outdoor Channel's programming content cross-indexes very well with Qwest Choice TV's customer base in the Phoenix and Denver markets," Miller said by e-mail. "The addition of Roger Werner, a proven programming executive, to the Outdoor Channel team, confirms Qwest's belief that the Outdoor Channel is committed to the ongoing development of qualitative and valuable programming for our customers."
To see more of The Press-Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.PE.com.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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