MTG signs agreements to boost free-TV penetration and further strengthen pay-TV offering in Denmark
Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) (‘MTG’ or ‘the Group’), the international entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that it has signed a channel distribution agreement with Boxer TV-Access A/S (‘Boxer’) in Denmark, which will significantly boost the national penetration of MTG’s TV3 and TV3 PULS Danish free-TV channels. The Group also announced that it has signed an agreement with Canal Digital Denmark A/S (‘Canal Digital’) to further strengthen its pay-TV offering in Denmark by adding C More Entertainment AB’s (‘C More’) Canal 8 and Canal 9 pay-TV channels to MTG’s Viasat’s satellite pay-TV platform.
The agreement with digital terrestrial network operator Boxer will make MTG’s TV3 and TV3 PULS free-TV channels available on Boxer’s platform in Denmark from 1 January and 1 July 2013, respectively. This additional distribution will boost the national perceived penetration of TV3 from 67% to approximately 76%, whilst TV3 PULS’ penetration will increase from 46% to approximately 54%. MTG joint venture channel TV 2 Sport will also be made available on Canal Digital’s satellite pay-TV platform in Denmark from 1 January 2013.
TV3 and TV3 PULS will be available in the Boxer “Mini”, “Mix” and “Max” channel packages. TV3 will also be made available to all Boxer subscribers for an introductory period between 1 January and 28 February 2013.
The Canal 8 and Canal 9 channels will be included in MTG’s Viasat satellite pay-TV package in Denmark from 1 January 2013. MTG also has signed an agreement with C More to include these channels in Viasat´s offering on the Waoo! IPTV network from the same date.
TV3 was launched in 1987 and broadcasts a broad range of entertainment programming for the whole family, while TV3 PULS was launched in 2009 to target both men and women within the 15-49 demographic with movies, drama and lifestyle programmes. MTG’s Danish media house, which also includes male-skewed free-TV channel TV3+, had a combined commercial share of viewing of 22.4% in the third quarter of 2012 in the 15-49 demographic, making it the second most viewed media house in Denmark. TV 2 Sport was launched in April 2007 as a joint venture with TV2 Denmark A/S and broadcasts a wide range of premium sports content, including football from the UEFA Champions League, the Barclays Premier League, the Danish Superleague, Danish handball, NHL ice hockey, as well as tennis, golf and other sports rights.
C More’s Canal 8 is a sports channel with content including ATP Tennis and football from Italy’s Serie A and the UEFA Europa League. Canal 9 is a broad based entertainment channel that features selected football from the Danish Superleague, the UEFA Europa League and Spain´s La Liga, as well as movies and TV series.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “This agreement with Boxer will substantially boost the household penetration of our Danish media house of free-TV channels. This will result in higher viewing and advertising market shares, as well as additional carriage fees for our free-TV business. This is a major change for us and follows similar developments in the past in both Sweden and Norway. Not only does it significantly enhance our competitive position but also ensures that even more viewers will get access to our free-TV entertainment channels.”
“At the same time, the inclusion of the additional third party channels in our Viasat satellite and IPTV offerings also further strengthens our premium pay-TV offering and consolidates our position as the number one provider of premium sports, TV series and movie content in Denmark.”
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For further information, please visit www.mtg.se or contact:
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50
Matthew Hooper, Head of Corporate Communications & Planning
Tel: +44 (0) 7768 440 414
Email: investor.relations@mtg.se / press@mtg.se
Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment broadcasting group with operations that span four continents and include free-TV, pay-TV, radio and content production businesses. MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels, which are available on Viasat’s own satellite platforms and third party networks, and also distributes TV content over the internet. MTG is also the largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is Russia’s leading independent television broadcaster.
Modern Times Group is a growth company and generated record net sales of SEK 13.5 billion in 2011. MTG’s Class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm’s Large Cap index under the symbols ‘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 16 November 2012.