UFC on Chinese TV

[MasterKiller]

UFC ANNOUNCES CHINESE TV DEAL

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Monday announced a television deal with Inner Mongolia Television that will mark the first time in history UFC will be seen on TV in China, continuing the promotion's global expansion.

“Obviously China is a huge market and the Chinese understand the martial arts probably better than anyone else in the world. It’s a no brainer that UFC programming will be appreciated in China, and will become a big hit for the NMTV network,” said Dana White, UFC President.

Inner Mongolia Television, known as NMTV, is a network broadcast station available in 80 million households, with the potential to reach 240 million viewers throughout all the provinces of China. Starting this month, NMTV will air up to 16 hours of UFC programming per month, including the trademark shows The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed and UFC All Access, with an option to air recent UFC pay-per-view event telecasts.

With this deal, NMTV will air between one to four hours of UFC programming each week on Saturday and Sundays between 1:30 – 5:30pm local time, broadcast in languages specific to each province.

[GeneChing]

China is all about satellite TV now. It will be very interesting to see what kind of effect this might have on Chinese fight sports overall.

NMTV Acquires Exclusive Rights to Air UFC in China

BEIJING, June 30 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- NMTV, a free-to-air satellite television station in China reaching over 250 million viewers nationwide, today announced it will air the Ultimate Fighting Championships (TM) ("UFC") on its Fight Weekend TV program. This will be the first time the internationally renowned premier mixed martial arts competition has been broadcasted in China. Under an agreement with US based CSI Entertainment Inc., NMTV has the exclusive television rights for the UFC in China.

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2009/06/30/200906302043.jpg )

"As a people renowned worldwide for inventing Kung Fu, the Chinese already hold a deep affinity and attraction to martial arts and we are very excited to have the opportunity to bring the exhilaration of the world's most prestigious mixed martial arts event, the UFC, to Chinese viewers for the first time ever," said Mr. Guan Fang Fang, President of NMTV. "With the addition of the UFC, we have added a jewel in our already world-class list of fight programming on Fight Weekend, which currently includes Wide World of Fights, World Class Championship Boxing, Greatest Classics aka USA Tuesday Night Fights, Professional Sumo, Championship Kickboxing, The BWF: Breaking/Weapons/Freestyle-Martial Arts programs, the Greatest Knockouts! Series, and the Best of WCCB."

"China is a culture renowned for creating some of the world's most recognized martial arts. CSI Sports is proud to be distributing the UFC, the true evolution of martial arts into the ultimate test of fighting skills and talent," said Richard Miele, Co-CEO of CSI Sports. "The UFC is unquestionably the premier MMA competition in the world and we are proud to partner with NMTV to bring these talented athletes to the television screens of China."

Mr. Hu Ping, Producer of Fight Weekend, said, "Competitions between fighters from single martial arts category is a common sight in China, but with UFC Chinese viewers will be able to enjoy a whole new form of sports entertainment with matches between fighters from different martial arts backgrounds. In addition to this, this fighting sport will also offer them a fitting platform to learn about the unique traits and specialties of each martial arts style."

"Different from other programs which directly replay competitions, Fight Weekend will invite freestyle fighting experts and sports celebrities to comment and discuss the competitions on shows. In order to create on-the-spot experience to TV audience, we have also improved the arena, and the sound and lighting effect onsite," added Mr. Hu.

NMTV's Fight Weekend, launched in April of this year, is China's first comprehensive TV program dedicated to showcasing international fight competitions and marital arts. It is a three-hour program and is broadcasted nationally every Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 - 5:00 PM. The program currently features numerous types of martial arts and combat sports from around the world, such as Boxing, Karate, Judo, Sumo Wrestling and Taekwondo.

In the three short months since its launch, the ratings and market share of the program has increased by 91% and 124% respectively. Fight Weekend has been repeatedly ranked number one compared with other nationwide programs in the same time slot and consistently ranked the top three of NMTV's weekend programs. According to surveys conducted by a research company in China, the main audience of Fight Weekend consists of males at 71.3% and viewers ranging from 35-65 years old. The survey also indicated that a large portion of Fight Weekend viewers have received a higher education.

NMTV is a free-to-air satellite television in China that reaches a nationwide audience of approximately 250 million viewers in 35 major Chinese cities and is currently ranked 25th nationally in terms of ratings.

[Yoshiyahu]

Do you think the Chinese now will start entering the UFC?