Tune in Sunday to “FLW Outdoors” on FSN (Fox Sports Net) as co-hosts Charlie Evans and Keith Lebowitz take viewers to the $900,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lake Okeechobee. The season-opening tournament, which was presented by EverStart Batteries, awarded the winner, Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Texas, $100,000.
The one-hour show is the first of a two-part series covering the first event of the $7.6 million FLW Tour season. The tournament featured 400 top bass anglers from the United States, Japan, Spain and Australia.
The full field competes in the two-day opening round for one of 10 slots in the final round based on their two-day accumulated weight. All anglers start day three at zero, with the winning pro determined on day four based on the heaviest two-day weight. Finalists are survivors of two days of qualifying competition that pitted them against a field of the world’s best bass anglers, and they must make crucial, pressure-packed decisions throughout the final two days.
FSN is the industry leader in providing the most up-to-date technology in television production. FSN puts viewers in the boats with the pros, shadowing them from sunrise until the final weigh-in using innovative camerawork that gives fishing fans the most intimate viewing experience available.
Some of the 10 finalist’s boats are equipped with an underwater camera, showing the struggle from a whole different perspective. Plus FSN utilizes two cameras that capture clear video 25-feet underwater. These cameras provide not only tremendous video shots, but an enormous benefit to amateur anglers watching at home, who can now see how the pros handle the bass when the fish are within range of the boat. FSN is also using a helicopter to get the most detailed coverage of how anglers sprint from the takeoff to fishing hotspot.
Additionally, every finalist wears a small camera on their hat for the ultimate close-up action.
The show is executive produced by George Greenberg, FSN executive vice president of programming and production, as well as Gary Garcia and David Kiviat.
FSN broadcasts “FLW Outdoors” Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon EST and again Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon EST. Check local listings for show times and channels in your area.
During each tournament show, “FLW Outdoors” hosts Evans and Lebowitz go on location to provide on-the-water coverage. While tournament weigh-ins are broadcast live at Wal-Mart stores throughout the country, “FLW Outdoors” is tape-delayed to bring audiences nationwide the best tournament footage possible throughout the season.
FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels. FSN, based in Los Angeles, serves as the cable TV home to 60 of the 81 MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States, and produces over 4,500 live events each year. In addition to home team games, FSN telecasts a wide variety of national sports events and programming, including “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” “I, Max” and “Beyond the Glory.”
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers eight national tournament circuits offering more than $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America’s largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
Wal-Mart and more than 40 of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events.By: Dave Washburn, vp comm / FLW Outdoors
