RTFM
member
Tom, your show has a great following here a THR, and I hope I'm not out of line by posting your Truth Squad email on what's happening / happened to PDT and where we can find it.
Keep up the great work Sir. I thoroughly enjoy all of your efforts, TV, Pod cast, Internet.
Keep up the great work Sir. I thoroughly enjoy all of your efforts, TV, Pod cast, Internet.
Special Note to the Gun Talk Truth Squad
May 20, 2008
Personal Defense TV, Outdoor Channel, Misinformation and Spin
Several members of the Truth Squad have contacted me about the "news" that the Outdoor Channel has dropped Personal Defense TV. You'll note the quotation marks around the word "news" because the simple fact is that this is not what has happened.
Here's the skinny as it was told to me by a key participant.
Personal Defense TV is one of 10 television shows produced by Intermedia Outdoors (IMO). This is the company which publishes Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, Petersen's Hunting, and a bunch of other magazines. IMO also purchased The Sportsman Channel about a year ago.
Over the last few months, IMO has been in negotiations with the Outdoor Channel (OC) about the shows IMO produces, and last Wednesday, according to my sources at IMO (and I get this from the very top), they hit the wall. Increased prices and unrealistic demands from OC made it impossible for IMO to continue. Wednesday night, a top IMO manager informed OC that the company would not be renewing any of its shows with Outdoor Channel. In other words, as each show's contract runs out, IMO was pulling its top-rated shows.
TV shows from IMO consistently rate in the top 10 shows on the network.
Up to this point, it was just corporate negotiation and decisions, which are usually out of sight of the public. Then it got ugly.
The Outdoor Channel then put out a news release which contained more than a suggestion that the channel actually was removing the award-winning Intermedia Outdoor shows (Guns & Ammo, Petersen's Hunting, In-Fisherman, Personal Defense TV, etc., etc.) to improve the quality of programming. In other words, it was dumping these crummy shows.
The reaction was quick, and interesting to watch. Jim Shepherd, a veteran television manager and creator of the Outdoor Wire and Shooting Wire (highly recommended) called BS on the OC release. At the NRA Annual Meetings in Louisville, KY, last weekend, people in the firearms industry saw through the spin. It was a case of "You didn't dump me. I'm dumping YOU," and everyone recognized it for the silliness it was.
PDTV is NOT Going Away
So, what now for Personal Defense TV and other shows? Not to worry. Clearly, they will appear on The Sportsman Channel. Now that IMO has cut the apron strings to OC, it can get about its work to increase the distribution of Sportsman Channel. Expect to see news releases on deals putting SC on cable systems around the country, and possibly on one or both of the satellite services. Click Here if you would like to contact your local network provider and request The Sportsman Channel (or visit www.thesportsmanchannel.com and click on "GET THE CHANNEL"). There's also the very real possibility that you'll see some IMO shows, including PDTV, on other networks (in addition to SC).
Personal Defense TV was my idea. It was tough to get the show on the air. Even gun makers were nervous about it at first. Because I knew what people wanted to talk about on Gun Talk Radio, though, I knew that personal defense is the number one topic -- period. Nothing else even comes close. I'm proud to be able to break ground with this show and it has been really well received.
We are almost finished shooting Season Three of PDTV, which will feature Massad Ayoob, Clint Smith, the world-class instructors at Gunsite, Tiger McKee of Shootrite (a new addition to PDTV), and a new weekly feature I think you'll enjoy. That begins airing in October. You'll see Heidi Smith and Il Ling New on the show this year, too. We bring the best instructors to you.
And...you didn't really think that after three years of bringing you the ground-breaking instruction on PDTV we were going to leave it at that, did you? Stay tuned for even more programs about the topics which you hear on "Tom Gresham's Gun Talk" radio show every week.
HUGE ATTABOYS!
Just as Gun Talk Radio was ground-breaking, and PDTV was ground-breaking, so, too, is the Gun Talk Truth Squad. You folks have really jumped on the "no shrug" policy, and you are sending letters to newspapers all over the country, and they are being printed.
Believe me when I tell you that this makes a difference. Just look at the comments made online at newspaper web sites whenever a Truth Squad member gets a "truth missile" printed. Others step forward with positive comments about firearms ownership, the common sense reality of protecting yourself and your family, and the need to protect (and take back) the Second Amendment.
Keep it up.
It's working!
It's not me. It's you. And YOU are getting it done.
-- Tom Gresham
