TORONTO and NEW YORK — Anthem Sports and Entertainment’s Fight Network announced Tuesday it has promoted Ariel Shnerer to the position of general manager of the combat sports network.
Since joining the company in 2007, Shnerer has held various positions at Fight Network, including producer, programming and content manager, editorial supervisor and executive producer of FN Originals, Fight Network’s original production group.
More recently, Shnerer served as senior director of programming, global distribution and communications for Anthem, Fight Network’s parent company, overseeing growth initiatives and content strategy for other assets in Anthem’s global sports and entertainment portfolio. This includes Impact Wrestling, where he spearheaded the launch of the Impact Plus digital subscription platform and managed global asset distribution for Impact Wrestling’s network broadcast customers.
As part of his new role as general manager, Shnerer will oversee Fight Network operations with a focus on growing revenue, building digital products, driving expansion to new markets and on new platforms, and leading the evolution of a new programming strategy, while continuing to provide support for Impact Wrestling, says the news release.
“Faced with significant opportunities to grow on the many emerging digital platforms, the demand for more original programming and the opportunity to fill the content gaps that exist in the fight space, we need to have experience in our leadership that covers combat sports programming, original content production and multi-platform distribution, and Ariel brings all of that and more,” said Leonard Asper, founder and CEO of Anthem Sports and Entertainment, in the news release.
Shnerer added: “I am excited to expand my role with Anthem as we focus our efforts on growing Fight Network’s global reach. Our incredibly talented team has been producing critically acclaimed content across all combat sports genres and we look forward to expanding our footprint with new platforms and territories, while we establish strategic partnerships and cater to the latest content consumption methods.”
