By Mike Reynolds (Special to TVWeek)

Outside Television, the adventure sports and lifestyle service that includes coverage of mountaineering, has gained distribution footing with the nation’s third largest distributor.

The independent network, which emanates from Outside magazine and centers on such alternative sports as hiking, running and kayaking and their attendant lifestyles, has inked a multiyear carriage pact with Dish Network.

Under the contract, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Outside Television will reside on the No. 2 DBS provider’s Multi-Sport Pack premium sports package.

Before assuming its spot at channel 390 as one of 35 channels on Dish’s premium sports tier, Outside will benefit from exposure to all of the distributor’s 14 million sub during a free preview period extending through May 6.

With the Dish deal, Outside has added to an affiliate roster that already includes Comcast’s Xfinity, Cox Communications, Google Fiber and about 50 small operators of the National Cable Television Cooperative. Outside has a master agreement with the Co-op, whose members can opt in under the terms of that accord.

All told, network officials say Outside is now available to some 40 million homes.

“We’ve partnered with Outside Television to take our customers directly into the action of extreme outdoor sports,” said Dish vice president of programming Josh Clark. “We are expanding our lineup of active outdoor lifestyle programming and unconventional sports coverage from mountaineering to BASE jumping and kitesurfing.”

Noted Outside Television senior vice president of distribution Dennis Gillespie: “Outside strives to inspire people to get outside and participate in the world beyond their living rooms, and Dish is finding new ways to attract just the kinds of people who would rather make their own adventures rather than follow a more conventional path. We’re pleased to partner with Dish to enable every one of the more than 140 million active outside enthusiasts living across the U.S. to now find their own way into Outside Television.”

Dish customers subscribing to Outside or checking it out on the freeview can espy the network’s coverage of running, biking, skiing, hiking, sailing, surfing, kayaking and other adventures involving wind, water, snow and terrain.

Specifically, they can see trans-oceanic legs of the annual 38,739-nautical mile Volvo Ocean Race in “Life at the Extremes” and new season premieres of series “Locals” and “Outlook: Icons Revealed” that showcase the exploits of Amazonian and Arctic explorer Mike Horn, renowned half-pipe snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler and freestyle ski champion Julian Carr, among others.

Dish’s Multi-Sport Pack encompasses more than 35 channels, including NFL Network, NBA TV, Big Ten Network and Pac-12 Networks.

The author of this piece, Mike Reynolds, is a veteran media and sports reporter and was most recently the news editor at Multichannel News. You can reach him at mikereynolds300@yahoo.com or 914-320-6532. We appreciate Mike making this piece available to TVWeek.