The answer to your question of whether or not you get the outdoor channel in Olympia is......"it depends." If you have the Dish Network anywhere in the U.S. then the Outdoor Channel is on channel 153. Depending on where you live, some cable companies carry the Outdoor Channel (not to be confused with the Outdoor Life Network) as part of their basic service (for instance Lakewood, Arlington, Marysville). Other places have the Outdoor Channel available as part of digital cable (for instance, Wenatchee and Kennewick). AT&T Cable in Puget Sound does not currently carry it and their customer service is SO BAD that when people call or e-mail to ask about it, they get ignored 99% of the time.
We are also hoping to get on a local TV station (KONG, KVOS, FOXNW), but they prefer to air infomercials over outdoor programming because it's easier to just sell time to Ron Popeil than to have their staff sell commercials. (Sad, pathetic truth of today's TV stations) KONG liked our show, but "doesn't have room" even though they air 9 hours of infomercials per day. The programming director at FSN (she knows nothing about fish) said our show had "too much energy" because they are used to the boring, Yanni-playing, 8-inch trout loving shows like Outdoor Journal and Flyfish. Yet the Outdoor Channel which specializes in fishing and hunting shows, chose our show for their highest-rated 1/2-hour over AOJ and Flyfish (which they use as "filler shows") and they get more e-mails, letters and calls about our show then any other.
We did just get picked up by a Portland, Oregon station for later in the year but still no luck in our own backyard, the Seattle area.
Thanks for your interest.
Kevin Erickson and Mike Wasch
Fisherman's Heaven Television
http://www.fishermansheaven.com