MTG: VIASAT TO SELL PAY-TV PACKAGES ON LARGEST BROADBAND NETWORK IN ESTONIA
Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) (‘MTG' or ‘the Group'), the international
entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that Viasat Broadcasting has
signed a four year agreement with Elion, which is the largest broadband and IPTV
services provider in Estonia. The agreement will enable Viasat to market and
sell its pay-TV channel packages to Elion's 175,000 broadband customers, 88,000
of which have IPTV, from the end of October 2009. Viasat's Estonian free-TV
channels (TV3, TV6 and 3+) will also be immediately available to Elion
subscribers through the platform's existing IPTV packages, which will boost the
penetration of the TV6 and 3+ channels significantly. Viasat also operates the
largest DTH satellite platform in the Baltic states.
The new agreement follows a similar agreement with Telia in Sweden in May 2008,
and builds on previous IPTV agreements with ten broadband network operators in
Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The agreement will enable Elion's ‘digiTV' customers to access Viasat's three
free-TV channels immediately. The three channels had a combined commercial share
of viewing of 39.7% in Q2 2009. Viasat will also market its pay-TV packages
direct to Elion's customers, with prices ranging from EEK 99 per month to EEK
305 per month. Viasat's premium offering on Elion's IPTV network will comprise
the Viasat Gold package of 12 Viasat channels and 25 third party channels.
Elion is the only IPTV and largest broadband provider in Estonia, with a 54%
share of the total number of broadband subscribers and 100% of the IPTV
subscribers in Estonia. Elion is a wholly owned subsidiary of AS Estii Telekom,
which is the largest telecommunications provider in Estonia and is majority
owned by TeliaSonera through holding company Baltic Tele AB.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO of MTG, commented: “This agreement with
Elion is the latest step in the roll-out of our ‘anytime anywhere' strategy,
whereby we seek to make our free-TV channels as broadly available as possible,
and to attract subscribers to our pay-TV content on multiple distribution
platforms. Elion is the number one Estonian broadband and IPTV operator and this
deal highlights the demand for our portfolio of high-rating free-TV channels and
popular premium pay-TV content. IPTV distribution is complementary to our own
DTH satellite platform because it targets new homes that we have not been able
to reach before. We are therefore addressing new homes and will benefit from
higher penetration levels moving forward.”
***
For further information, please visit www.mtg.se or contact:
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO
Tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50
Investor & Analyst Enquiries:
Matthew Hooper/ Oscar Hyleen
Tel: +44 (0) 7768 440 414 / +46 (0) 707 620 024
Email: investor.relations@mtg.se
Media Enquiries:
Bert Willborg +44 (0) 791 2280 850
Email: bert.willborg@mtg.se
Modern Times Group is a leading international entertainment broadcasting group
with the second largest geographical broadcast footprint in Europe. MTG's Viasat
Broadcasting is the largest free-TV and satellite premium pay-TV operator in
Scandinavia and the Baltics, and also operates free-TV channels in the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Slovenia Bulgaria, Macedonia and Ghana. MTG's TV assets are
broadcast in a total of 30 countries and have 125 million viewers. MTG is also
the major shareholder in Russia's largest independent television broadcaster
(CTC Media - Nasdaq: CTCM), and the number one commercial radio operator in the
Nordic and Baltic regions.
Modern Times Group MTG AB Class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX
Stockholm's Large Cap market (‘MTGA' and ‘MTGB').
The information in this announcement is that which Modern Times Group MTG AB is
required to disclose under the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial
Instruments Trading Act. It was released for publication at 08.00 CET on 09
October 2009.
MTG: VIASAT TO SELL PAY-TV PACKAGES ON LARGEST BROADBAND NETWORK IN ESTONIA
| Source: Modern Times Group MTG AB
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