Fight Network eyes contender status
Broadcaster acquires new financial backers, purchases British sports channel
GRANT ROBERTSON
MEDIA REPORTER
April 2, 2008
Canadian specialty broadcaster The Fight Network is expanding overseas with the purchase of a British sports channel, which the company hopes to use as a base for further expansion in Europe.
In a deal expected to be announced today, the upstart Toronto-based channel is also adding several private investors to help fund its growth strategy as it looks to capitalize on the rising global popularity of mixed martial arts.
Among the new financial backers is Slaight Communications Inc., headed by former Standard Broadcasting Ltd. chief executive officer Gary Slaight, who sold the family's radio operations to Astral Media Inc. last year.
TFN Global Inc., The Fight Network's parent company, is buying The Wrestling Channel for an undisclosed amount. The channel, carried on British satellite TV reaches nearly nine million homes there.
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"For a rinky-dink sports channel from Canada, that's not bad," said George Burger, chief executive officer of TFN.
Privately owned TFN put its brand on the channel in January, renaming it The Fight Network U.K., and will now take full ownership. The Wrestling Channel was previously owned by an advertising agency that bought it to sell commercial time, but had not invested much in marketing or programming, Mr. Burger said.
The Fight Network intends to expand into additional countries this year, though it has not specified which ones. The company has its sights set on a half dozen countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, depending on whether TFN can negotiate joint venture agreements with local partners.
In addition to Mr. Slaight, other private investors involved in a private placement to fund the expansion include Martin Goldfarb, chief executive officer of market research company Goldfarb Consultants Ltd.; Robert Foster, CEO of Capital Canada; and former Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. executive Judson Martin.
The Fight Network launched in 2005 and now reaches into roughly 425,000 Canadian homes through cable and satellite TV. Its programming is also seen in North Africa and the Middle East through Fox Sports International.
The network airs a mixture of boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts. In 2006, according to the most recent financial data available from federal regulators, the Fight Network had revenue of $538,000, but registered a pretax loss of $2.9-million. That gap has since narrowed, executives said, and the company expects to be profitable by the first quarter of 2009.
Mr. Burger, who helped start the History Channel, was named CEO in September. Previously, he sought to launch a new pay-TV service in Canada, but was blocked in 2006 when regulators awarded the licence to rival Allarco Entertainment.
