New York, NY and New Berlin, WI - Sportsman Channel, the leader in outdoor TV for the American Sportsman, today announced veteran cable television programming executive, Greg Trager, has been named VP Programming & Production. Trager was previously Sr. Director, Programming and Acquisitions at ESPN, where his responsibilities included programming oversight across all of ESPN platforms related to its hunting and fishing franchises under the ESPN Outdoors and Bassmasters brands.
Today's news comes on the heels of Sportsman's recent appointment of industry veteran Michael Magnotta to SVP/Creative Director, as the network aggressively adds top talent to its team.
"Greg is a seasoned sports TV executive with extensive programming and production experience, and he brings a long list of achievements in outdoor programming from his years at Outdoor Life Network, Versus and ESPN," said Gavin Harvey, Sportsman Channel CEO. "He will make a powerful contribution to maintaining Sportsman's position as the leader in our category, and to continuing our growth in viewership."
At Sportsman, Trager will lead the programming and production teams to acquire, develop and produce content for on-air, online, and on-demand platforms. Additionally, Trager will oversee programming strategy, scheduling, acquisitions, original productions, operations, time buy and endemic ad sales. Trager will supervise a strong Sportsman programming and business development team that has successfully grown the network from a start-up to the category leader in just eight years.
"Not only I am excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with Gavin in the outdoor space again but to also have the privilege of joining the established leader in this category with an already tremendous team in place," said Trager. "Sportsman Channel's ability to produce and deliver content is unmatched in this space, and I am truly looking forward to utilizing those assets to help further the network's leadership position."
During his tenure at ESPN, Trager successfully renewed its powerful alliance with Realtree securing the company's signature series Realtree Outdoors and its well-known Hunt Sunday block. Trager renewed the ratings winner Driven to Hunt for its final two seasons as well. On the fishing side, Trager was at the helm for the development and launch of three successful new original franchises: ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series, Pirates of the Flats with Tom Brokaw and Going Coastal featuring Byron Velvick. Trager also renewed some of ESPN Outdoor's longest running and most popular fishing shows for their final broadcasts on ESPN2 including Spanish Fly with Jose Wejebe, and the World's Greatest Fishing Show with Mark Zona. Also under his direction, Bassmasters grew its position as the top professional fishing franchise by expanding its coverage into ESPN's digital franchises, including ESPN3.com. He also successfully renewed and restructured deals with Churchill Downs, The Breeders' Cup, Professional Bowlers Association and the PRCA for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Prior to ESPN, beginning in 1997, Trager worked at OLN/Versus starting in production and working his way up to producer developing new series in the 2000's to becoming the Director of Programming & Production in 2005. During that time, he developed the network's highest rated series, Whitetail Revolution and spearheaded the programming lineup for four of the most-watched nights of outdoor programming in the network's history.
An avid fisherman, Trager has spent much of his life in and around the outdoors. He grew up fishing the waters of the Long Island Sound and has since fished extensively, from New England to New Zealand, the Rockies to the Turks and Caicos. Trager currently resides in Riverside, Conn., with his wife and four children.
About Sportsman Channel: Launched in 2003, Sportsman Channel is the only television and digital media company fully devoted to the more than 82 million sportsmen in the United States, delivering entertaining and educational programming focused exclusively on hunting, shooting and fishing activities. Sportsman Channel is now available in HD, check with your local cable or satellite provider. Acquired by InterMedia Outdoors Holdings in 2006, Sportsman Channel reaches nearly 27 million U.S. television households and is a part of the nation's largest multimedia company targeted exclusively to serving the information and entertainment needs of outdoors enthusiasts. Visitwww.thesportsmanchannel.com, follow on Twitter, @SPORTSMANchnl (www.twitter.com/SPORTSMANchnl), or become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/sportsmanchannel.
