Christy King

VP, Digital, Technology Research & Development, UFC

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/4/2012 12:01:00 AM

The Ultimate Fighting Championship had a busy 2011, with the sport’s burgeoning popularity resulting in a landmark deal with Fox, giving mixed martial arts its widest reach yet. As part of the agreement, the UFC was set to increase its original programming output from 90 to 350 hours per year.

And that meant it was time for Christy King, VP, digital, technology research & development for UFC, to start making some spirited moves and holds.

King was tasked with developing a technological platform for production and asset management that would efficiently distribute content to Fox’s networks, including Fox Deportes, FX, Fuel TV, Speed and all the regional sports networks. “It was a darn good thing I started working on this asset management system about a year before we had our deal with Fox go through,” says King.

In addition to her work for the UFC, King oversees all technology development for the MMA outfit’s parent company, Zuffa, a position she was promoted to in March.

King says that since the UFC has a youngskewing audience, its fans are more likely to view content online or on their mobile devices. “Digital has evolved [along with] what you can do in the digital space,” she says. “Bandwidth is now huge and very accessible, so you can put everything online that primarily you could only put on television before.”

It’s not just male viewership that UFC and Fox are after either; King says they have noticed that female viewership has risen overseas, in particular for the sport’s reality program, The Ultimate Fighter. “It’s a way for not only women, but anybody that’s new to the sport, to get to know these guys,” says King.

The female landscape in sports has certainly changed from when King first started. She recalls a time when she would often be the only woman in the room.

“When I first started out, I experienced those side comments,” says King. “But that was 25 years ago.”

King says that since those early days are long gone, she doesn’t feel singled out because of her gender. She partly attributes that to the fact that more women are popping up within the industry, but cautions that they still have a ways to go. “We’re still very much the minority,” she says.

Still, she’s proud to be a part of the industry. “If you’re interested in technology and in telling a story, there’s just no place better to be,” King says.