COMPANY TOWN : Times Mirror Plans Cable Network Featuring Outdoor Sports Activities : Media: With shows on hiking and fishing, the Outdoor Life Channel will draw upon the company’s magazine resources.

In its first major programming initiative, Times Mirror Co. said Monday that it plans to launch a new cable TV network called the Outdoor Life Channel.

Times Mirror, which owns the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers and magazines, said the cable TV network will be launched in 1995 and draw upon the resources of its six outdoor life magazines, including Field & Stream, Ski Magazine and Yachting.

The new channel, the first venture from the newly formed Times Mirror Programming Co., aims to take advantage of digital compression technology that will greatly expand the number of channels available to cable TV subscribers. The current bottleneck in channel capacity has stymied the plans for dozens of new cable TV channels targeted at niche audiences.

The Outdoor Life Channel, which is designed to appeal to difficult-to-reach male viewers, will feature shows on outdoor sports such as fishing, hiking and camping. It will also offer environmental and children’s programming.

Times Mirror, which owns the country’s 10th-largest cable TV operator, said the Outdoor Life Channel will be carried by the company’s 1.3 million cable TV subscribers, including those served by Dimension Cable in Orange County.