In another move to still provide more content than DirecTV, Dish Network has signed a long term deal with the upstart Ski Channel.  The deal was inked last week but news of it was held off because of unforeseen reasons.  The Ski Channel focuses on mountain activities such as snowboarding, skiing, as well as other alternative ones. The vice president of programming for Dish, Andy Karofsy, said, “Dish Network is excited to now offer VOD content that speaks to the growing popularity of skiing and other mountain sports.  We are always exploring new programming that contributes to the depth of content available via our already extensive VOD service, and The Ski Channel is a perfect addition.”

While all of the 21 million homes might not be tuned in day after day to the channel, just having that potential to reach that many viewers is great for mountain sports.  With the Winter Games in Vancouver coming up as well as the impending winter months, people will be getting the bug to go ski or snowboard more.  Perhaps the Ski Channel might even want to include special Olympic coverage and exclusive interviews and behind the scenes footage of the great athletes.

Hopefully their feed is in high definition.  I certainly would watch maybe thirty minutes of programming just for the scenery.  With Dish signing the channel, it is just yet another product that DirecTV does not have.  Dish certainly is scooping up the alternative sports.  While it probably will make a minute difference in subscriptions, the fact that Dish can say they have something DirecTV does not have makes a huge difference.