Upstart Canadian broadcaster says U.S. carriage deal is imminent

The Fight Network is currently only available on Rogers digital cable, but the upstart channel is looking to do something rare for a Canadian broadcaster. The Category 2 diginet devoted to martial arts and other fighting forms is in talks to be distributed in the United States – initially on satellite TV and then on cable in select U.S. cities. The Fight Network president and COO Mike Garrow tells Canadian Communications Reports that the channel could be carried in the United States even before additional carriage agreements are in place with more Canadian distributors. "There’s a good chance that The Fight Network will be in the United States first, before we have other Canadian agreements. I really believe that we will be in the U.S. in 2006," he says. He points out that there is no cable TV channel currently in the United States that is similar to The Fight Network, and that it acquired not only Canadian rights, but also U.S. rights, for its programming in anticipation of expansion south of the border. "We secured options for the U.S. as part of a longer window, because we thought it would be some time before we expanded there. But we have now been approached , so we’ll probably be exercising those options sooner," he states. Successful expansion by The Fight Network into the U.S. would be a landmark move for a Canadian broadcaster. Generally, Canadian broadcasters partner with American players to gain access to their programming that is aired on jointly owned specialty TV channels here. For example, Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. runs Home and Garden TV Canada in conjunction with Ohio-based Scripps Howard Broadcasting. Garrow says that the U.S. distributor became interested in carrying The Fight Network after American viewers began phoning and asking for the channel. Word of the channel has seeped south of the border, says Garrow, mostly through the specialty channel’s web site. The Fight Network has gone to wrestling and boxing matches, bars where pay-per-view (PPV) fights are broadcast, and to places like the Molson Indy, where Garrow says there’s a male demographic common to The Fight Network. The specialty TV channel is also promoting itself on its syndicated radio show it operates in conjunction with Toronto’s 640 radio station. As well, an announcement will be made soon that the channel will be running eight PPV events from different fight series in conjunction with a Canadian cable operator. Garrow says the PPV content will be used to promote The Fight Network and vice-versa, and he sees additional marketing opportunities through the channel’s sponsorship of fights across the country. The Fight Network is proving to be popular, he notes, because it is not a repeat channel. "Eighty per cent of the programming that we broadcast has never been seen in Canada before," he states. Garrow isn’t worried that for the time being it is only being carried by Rogers, the provider on which the channel launched in September (CCR, Sept. 27/05). "We’re in this for the long haul. It’s a marathon, not a sprint," he states. The Fight Network is leasing the broadcast facilities of Toronto-based Channel Zero, and Garrow says the channel could be uplinked from there for distribution to the United States. The Fight Network is being financed privately – details of which Garrow would not disclose. He adds that there are fewer rules, and no need for a broadcast licence, to win the right to operate in the United States. His channel has already notified the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of its intention to broadcast down south, he states.

Upstart Canadian broadcaster says U.S. carriage deal is imminent

News | 11/18/2005 5:00 am EST

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