Midtown’s Leonard Asper has fighting on his mind these days. The former CEO and president of media company CanWest Global recently bought a 30 per cent interest in digital combat sports channel the Fight Network and is now CEO. “I think it’s got a great future ahead of it,” said the 47-year-old. In addition to broadcasting live boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts events, the channel also offers news and reality-TV shows such as Wrestling Reality.
Asper retired from CanWest in 2010 after the company began having economic troubles but said his job today shares a lot of similiarities. “In the end it’s still programming, marketing and selling ads.”
He said he invested in the Fight Channel because of its concentrated content and its ability to transcend mulitple media platforms. “The channels that do really well are the targeted content channels like HGTV or Food Network,” said Asper. “I figured a well-branded channel like a sports channel has good chances moving forward.”
The success also lies in going further than the fights. “It’s about the four pillars: It’s about fighting, the fighters, fight news and the fight lifestyle,” he said. “It’s beyond just a fighting channel.”