Dr.Oz’s JungoTV Partners With Cinedigm To Launch 24/7 Twitch Channel

If you are trying to reach younger consumers, there are few places more effective than the Amazon-owned gaming-focused social video platform Twitch. Millions of users watching other people play and comment on video games and the site does at least a billion streams per year. And as I've been arguing for years, this is a platform that television networks should see as a natural promotional platform.

And there has been progress in that direction, albeit on a smaller scale. Shout Factory has streamed a channel of its content, and familiar PBS icons such as Bob Ross and "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" have also had Twitch channels devoted to their shows. Even the NBA has cut a deal to stream some of its minor-league games on the platform.

Now we are seeing the natural progression of the idea, as smaller streaming players begin launching dedicated programming channels for Twitch. Cinedigm  and JungoTV are launching a 24/7 channel on Twitch, dubbed Combat Go. The new network will provide over 600 hours of content—including over 100 hours of live fights from MMA and Kick Boxing competitions.

The channel is the brainchild of former Crunchyroll Chief Content Officer George Chung, who is a five-time former World Karate Champion and Inductee in the Black Belt Hall of Fame. 

"When correctly taught and executed, the martial arts develop respect, discipline and honor," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, JungoTV co-founder. "These admirable character traits will be on full display in Combat Go’s carefully curated programming, as the world’s top athletes execute the dynamics, unique styles, and practices that help achieve peak performance in their sports."

"There is a real lack of global combat sports among digital-first networks," said Erick Opeka, EVP of Cinedigm Networks. "We look forward to bringing a diverse, high-quality array of top tier events to the widely-popular and growing Twitch channel as well as other platforms where fans can not only watch the content, they can engage with it and their friends. We’ve seen great success so far with the performance of our fandom-focused CONtv channel on Twitch and expect similar results with Combat Go."

Combat Go joins a growing number of linear channels now running on Twitch. Those include the fandom-centric ConTV, Fail Army, Machinima, IGN and the motorcycle-focused channel Choppertown.