McKinnis and B.A.S.S. buy back his JM Productions

B.A.S.S. LLC has acquired

JM Associates, one of the nation’s oldest and largest outdoor

programming production companies, B.A.S.S. announced today.

 
JM Associates was founded by Jerry McKinnis, one of three private

investors — along with Don Logan and Jim Copeland — who purchased

B.A.S.S. from ESPN in November 2010. The group bought JM from

Atlanta-based CSE, which has owned it since 2007.

 
A pioneer in outdoor television, JM Associates has produced The Bassmasters

television show for ESPN for 10 years, receiving an Emmy nomination for

the show in 2008. Its roots date back to 1963, when McKinnis launched

his first television fishing

show on a local television station in Little Rock, Ark. It produced

McKinnis’ program, The Fishin’ Hole, which debuted on ESPN in 1981, as well as most other “Outdoor Block†programming on the network for the past three decades.

 
“Having JM Associates as part of the family will make the B.A.S.S.

media operations completely seamless. It will enable us to expand our

media in every direction, and even beyond freshwater fishing,†said

McKinnis. “We’re especially excited about opportunities

to create compelling programming from a treasure of video archives.â€

 
“JM and B.A.S.S. will be a good fit; one that I believe will

benefit the sportfishing industry in many ways,†said Lonnie Cooper,

founder and chief executive officer of CSE, a full-service agency

dedicated to working with a wide range of clients in sports

and entertainment. “CSE and JM Associates will remain strategic partners

as our companies continue to work together on existing and future

projects.â€

 
In addition to producing B.A.S.S.’s flagship television show for

ESPN2 and Outdoor Channel, JM Associates provides coverage of the

Bassmaster Elite Series, the Bassmaster Classic and other professional

events on www.bassmaster.com.

 
The company produces numerous other outdoor shows, including Spanish Fly, Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, Madfin Shark Series, STIHL ® TIMBERSPORTS ® Series, College

Bass and The Saltwater Series.