MTG accelerates digital development - Senior management changes

Following MTG’s investment in a number of scale new digital ventures and reorganisation into a country management structure over the past 6 months, the management of the Group’s digital businesses, including digital accelerator MTGx, are changing shape.

• The online advertising video on demand operations across 8 countries will now sit within the local country organisations, closer to the customer and local product offerings. Group AVOD revenues were up 42% in the first 9 months of 2015 and started streams were up over 100%. 

• The MTGx central video on demand technical functions for both the Play and Viaplay services are being united under the leadership of Nordic digital streaming business Viaplay’s CEO Jonas Karlén, who will now report directly to Group CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann. Viaplay’s subscription video on demand started streams more than doubled in Q3 2015. 

• MTGx Ventures will continue to focus on the development of the exciting new Ventures Businesses comprising Turtle Entertainment (74% owned), Zoomin.TV (51% owned), Splay (81% owned) and DreamHack (100% owned), as well as a number of early stage start-ups, academies and hubs.  These fast growing businesses together generate more than 2.4 billion monthly views globally and combined annual external sales of more than SEK 850 million. Arnd Benninghoff has headed up the Group’s digital ventures since joining MTG in November 2014 from his role as CDO of ProsiebenSat1, and will now become an MTG Executive Vice President as well as CEO of MTGx Ventures.
   

Arnd will report to Mathias Hermansson, who returns to work on 18 December after his period of leave. Mathias will take on the new role of Executive Chairman of MTGx Ventures and adviser to MTG’s President & CEO on a number of strategic projects. Maria Redin’s role as acting CFO is now made permanent with immediate effect. As a result of all of these changes, Rikard Steiber, MTG EVP and Chief Digital Officer, is leaving MTG.

“The group is transforming fast now and we have a scale and high growth digital business, with leadership in key complementary online video categories. MTGx has disrupted and catalysed the organisation as planned and we now have considerable momentum in the digitalisation of our existing businesses and addition of new ones.

This strategic transformation of our business is a clear priority for MTG. Rikard’s job of creating MTGx and setting us on the transformation path is done, so he moves on with our thanks. Arnd’s job has just begun after acquiring some very exciting new brands and teams. He now steps up to become an EVP and work closely with Mathias, who takes on a new role. MTGx Ventures will now accelerate the development of what we have, while also identifying and converting other complementary and attractive opportunities. And I am delighted that Maria now also steps up permanently to a role that she has made her own over the past 6 months.”

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG President and CEO

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MTG (Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.)) is a leading international entertainment group. Our shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm (‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’).  The information in this announcement is that which MTG is required to disclose according to the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act, and was released at 08:00 CET on 3 December 2015.