Anthem Sports & Entertainment has announced their most ambitious deal to date acquiring majority interest of AXS TV and HD Net Movies.
Anthem, the parent company to Impact Wrestling and the Fight Network, will partner with AXS TV founder Mark Cuban in the new venture with AEG remaining on board as an active partner.
Additionally, Steve Harvey is coming on as an investor and strategic partner that will provide Anthem’s it’s largest reach. His company, Steve Harvey Global, will have a seat on Anthem’s board of directors.
Negotiations between the two sides were first reported back in July by Joe Lanza at the Voices of Wrestling outlet, although it appeared talks had died down over the summer. Dave Meltzer did report last week that talks were still active between the two sides.
In the release, Anthem CEO Leonard Asper stated: “We are very excited to add these two successful channels to our portfolio. Anthem was founded with a mission to deliver compelling, targeted content and experiences to passionate fans globally on the platform of their choice. The music, sports and entertainment communities served by these channels are a natural extension and perfect complement to our existing properties. The addition of AXS TV and HDNet Movies will allow for increased content ownership, digital expansion and even more compelling programming for consumers and our distribution partners”.
Mark Cuban added: “Anthem’s combination of targeted brands, enthusiastic audiences, operational expertise, international footprint and vision makes them an ideal partner to take AXS TV and HDNet Movies to their next levels. Given Anthem’s portfolio of premium content and complementary programming networks, we could not ask for a better home, and we are looking forward to the results we will collectively generate for this new partnership”.
AXS TV and HD Net will continue to operator out of their current facilities in Los Angeles and Denver respectively. Anthem Sports & Entertainment run their operations out of Toronto, Ontario with production facilities in Nashville, Tennessee, and Europe.
No official switch has been announced yet for Impact Wrestling, which currently airs on Friday nights at 10 pm Eastern on the smaller Pursuit Channel in the United States and simulcast on Twitch.
AXS TV’s programming line up currently includes New Japan Pro Wrestling, WOW: Women of Wrestling, and the LFA promotion.
