Sportsman Channel Taps InterMedia Outdoor's Burkhardt As President
Under Integration Play, Network Co-Founder Cooley Becomes Chairman
Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 3/24/2009 6:12:53 PM
The Sportsman Channel has shuffled its executive ranks, naming Willy Burkhardt president of the network, effective immediately, while network co-founder Michael Cooley is now serving as chairman.
In his new post, Burkhardt will oversee all of Sportsman's television programming, production and digital operations, as well as continue in his role of executive vice president for the network's parent InterMedia Outdoors, where he oversees TV, production and video content and cross-platform marketing activities. Burkhardt's appointment brings the company's full range of TV content resources under the direction of one person, further integrating IMO and Sportsman.
Burkhardt and Cooley report to InterMedia Outdoors CEO Jeff Paro. Todd Hansen, co-founder of Sportsman, will continue in his capacity of CMO and senior vice president with oversight of the channel's programming, sales and marketing activities, reporting to Burkhardt.
"This is a natural progression for The Sportsman Channel as we continue to apply IMO's vast resources to the network," said Paro in a statement. "IMO's content -- digital, print and television -- is being aggregated to drive The Sportsman Channel to becoming the number one network in the outdoor space. Willy is uniquely qualified to deliver on this goal. His experience, strategic direction and operating skills will make The Sportsman Channel a more engaging network, and our viewers and partners will see the value immediately."
Noted Burkhardt: "I am looking forward to helping The Sportsman Channel create the most compelling viewer experience for sportsmen across the country, with superior programming, innovative scheduling and an overall emphasis on quality. Over the past year, we have built the foundation for a strong cross-media platform to serve the needs and interests of sportsmen across television, the Web and print. I'm excited about the prospects of managing tighter linkages between TSC and IMO's content creation capabilities and marketing effectiveness."
Burkhardt's career has included stints at ESPN, where he oversaw the programmer's brand extension and business development outside of the U.S. He has also been involved with the launch of a dozen new networks for ESPN and Turner Broadcasting System, managed 25 services around the world, and written eight TV series.
From 2004-2005, he was at Team Canada 2010, where he led a successful effort to secure the Canadian media rights to the 2010 (Vancouver) and 2012 Olympic Games for Bell Globemedia and Rogers Communications. Before that, he was president and COO of Wicks Business Information, LLC, an information and media company.
Burkhardt began his career at McKinsey & Co., Inc.
