ABS-CBN Broadcast Deal Heralds Asia Push by Karate Combat

Karate Combat, a global, professional sports league promoting the Japanese martial art of karate, has signed The Philippines ABS-CBN as its first broadcaster in Asia.


The company’s ABS-CBN Sports + Action channel has begun showing the initial three fight events that Karate Combat has produced. The first of its multi-part broadcasts, “Karate Combat: Genesis,” began on Aug 24. Subsequent segments and “Karate Combat: Inception” will air on Fridays in an early evening slot, with replays on Saturday at 6:30pm local time.


Karate is understood to have been developed in Okinawa and with some Chinese influences, before reaching the Japanese mainland in the early 20th Century. It has also become popular in the West as one of the most powerful forms of unarmed combat. Karate has been popularized in film by stars including Sonny Chiba, Dolph Lundgren, Michael Jai White and Jean-Claude van Damme. It is set to be included in the Olympic Games from 2020.


Karate Combat describes itself as “a premier Karate brand.” The New York-based company operates a professional full contact karate league, sports equipment business, and worldwide Dojo (training and fight facility) network. It is planning a further expansion within Asia, including a fight event in Japan.


Its media content is presented on its karate.com website, on its own apps, and Roku channel, as well as with broadcast and streaming partners. These include CBS Sports Live, Dailymotion, UFC Fight Pass, Titan, FITE, UltraFlix’s Iron Dragon, JungoTV’s CombatGO, Eleven Sports, The Fight Network, and Pluto TV.


ABS- CBN is the biggest broadcasting group in The Philippines. “Combat sports are incredibly popular in the Philippines,” said Michael DePietro, CEO of Karate Combat, in a prepared statement.