Heliconia may be best known for its award winning instructional books and DVDs, produced by World Champion kayaker Ken Whiting, but since 2009, the media production company has also been known for its outdoor-specialty TV programs.
Heliconia’s “Seaguar’s Extreme Kayak Fishing Challenge” is currently airing on NBC Sports. The host of the series is Jim Sammons; Whiting is also featured in the episodes.
In 2009, Heliconia produced its first TV series, “The Kayak Fishing Show,” for the World Fishing Network. In that same year, Heliconia released its first WebTV series, “Kayak Fishing Tales.” Last year, in a further move toward television, Heliconia sold the book and DVD publishing and distribution arm of its business to Fox Chapel Publishing. Heliconia is now totally focused on TV production, WebTV production and social media marketing.
“Every Friday afternoon we showcase paddlesports to 76 million TV households via the NBC Sports network. That’s a huge audience, many of whom who have likely never thought of getting into the sport,” says Brendan Mark, Sales and Marketing Director for the Heliconia Press. “There’s no doubt that this level of consistent exposure will help grow the paddlesport market which is great news for both retailers and the manufacturers.”
Key industry sponsors that support the sport of kayak fishing and the production of the program include: Seaguar, Ocean Kayak, ExOfficio, Maui Jim, Standard Horizon, Mustad, Scotty, and Okuma.
The Heliconia Press has been a leader in outdoors media production since World Champion kayaker Ken Whiting took over the company in 1998. For more information about Heliconia’s various TV and WebTV series, visit www.helipress.com.
–Aaron Bible