Backchannelmedia

NJBIZ

By Ruth, Joo-Pierre S

PRINCETON

An entrepreneur with a black belt envisions more than Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies

LOVERS OF THE MARTIAL arts will soon have a TV channel devoted to their passion. Beginning early next year, the Princeton-based Martial Arts Channel will launch 24 hours a day of programming devoted to martial arts-themed movies, news, series, video games and tournament highlights.

To generate hype for these offerings, the channel this month posted an interactive preview on its Website www.macexperience.com. Called Club MAC Xtreme, the preview will offer a taste of the programming.

With martial arts increasingly part of American pop culture-from exercise routines to action movies-Martial Arts channel CEO R. Anthony Cort thinks he has the formula to kick open the market. Cort is looking for a launch date during the first quarter of 2006.

Cort is billing the channel as a family network and a destination for fans with wide-ranging interests-not just an outlet for Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies. Fitness enthusiasts might gravitate to programs on yoga and Tae Bo Fitness Fever. Martial artists and their fans are expected to watch coverage of tournaments and other competitive events. A dramatic series, "Spirit of the Dragon," which incorporates martial arts in the storytelling, is also in the works.

"Martial arts is a lifestyle," Cort says. "There are 28,000 schools in the U.S. and more than 1,200 martial arts systems. Forty years ago, when Bruce Lee played Kato in the 'Green Hornet,' it was a fascination that has grown into a passion that is now a lifestyle."

American media and pop culture have embraced the Asian- originated practices as elements of entertainment. Moviegoers today expect to see their action heroes display high-flying kicks and acrobatic tumbling when they battle their enemies. Dazzling displays of martial prowess are essential elements in popular movies like "The Matrix" and this year's "Batman Begins." Even the venerable Jedi Knights of George Lucas' "Star Wars" franchise exude the samurai demeanor and style.

Cort says some 58% of the nation's population enjoys or participates in martial arts. There are more than 500 martial arts schools in New Jersey alone.

But while the teachings and entertainment are popular, the market- lacking any central outlet-has been extremely diffuse. Cort wants the Martial Arts Channel to serve as the focal point for this huge audience. "Companies have never had a mechanism by which to market to an industry that's got over 21 million practitioners," he says.

Cort, in coat and tie, says fans like these karate students will love his new channel.

Cort, 43, is a second-degree black belt in tae kwan do and has a bachelor's degree in marketing and one in communications from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He most recently owned Visions Unlimited in New York City, a producer of music videos and videos for marketing plans. "That became the genesis for what I am doing now," he says.

Cort founded Breakthrough Communications, the parent company for the Martial Arts Channel, in 2000. Work on establishing the television network began in 2003. The network's board of advisors includes martial artist Billy Blanks, creator of theTae Bo exercise franchise, and action-movie star Cynthia Rothrock.

Breakthrough Communications has provided video coverage and DVD production for martial arts exhibitions and competitions. That revenue, plus money from investors, has gone into developing the network. "Our revenue streams are tied to advertising," Cort says. "We have made money through corporate sponsorships at live events, tournaments, advertising on ourWebsite and DVD sales. We are using these areas as marketing platforms to build brand awareness for the launch of the Martial Arts Channel."

While the channel's headquarters are in Princeton, its production facility and up-link for sending programming to cable and satellite providers are being set up in Las Vegas. The company has seven full- time employees, though Cort expects to have 45 on the payroll once the network goes on the air.

Matches and demonstrations will be essential fare.

Cort says he is still in negotiations with satellite and cable providers and can't reveal which services will carry the Martial Arts Channel when it debuts. He expects the channel to be fully supported by advertisers such as beverage and sneaker makers and car companies seeking out fans of the genre. "These companies have and continue to use martial arts in their consumer advertising messages," says Cort.

While existing cable and satellite stations are always in search of programming, providers are not quick to sign on untested channels; getting a new one into distribution is no easy task.

But the number is growing. There were some 390 nationally viewed video programming networks at the end of 2004 according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association in Washington, DC. "At the end of 2003, there were 339," says Brian Dietz, senior vice president of the national trade association for the cable television industry.

That does not include the local and regional channels that further fill out space on providers' lineups. "It's very crowded," says Dietz. "There are some genres of programming being done and being done quite well. There are a lot of new niches yet to be explored."

Cort wants the MAC Channel to receive the same kind of reception afforded MTV in the 1980s with its "I want my MTV" ad campaign. That's no sure thing: What is now known as Comedy Central was created in 1991 when the Comedy Channel merged with the rival HA! comedy network. CNN Sports Illustrated ceased operations in 2002, after losing its audience to rivals ESPNews and Fox Sports News. CNNfn, CNN's financial-news network, shut down last December after struggling for nine years to gain an audience.

Cort thinks his channel can generate more than $13 million in revenue the first year and a whopping $200 million by its fifth year through advertising, corporate sponsorships and product sales. "Martial artists and fans are consumers of every conceivable product and service," he says. If Cort can realize his dream, he will have earned his black belt in marketing.

E-mail to ipruth@njbiz.com

Copyright Snowden Publications, Inc. Oct 24, 2005