MTG signs exclusive agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution
Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) (‘MTG’ or ‘the Group’), the international entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that Viasat Broadcasting has signed an exclusive four year pan-Scandinavian distribution agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. The deal is the first of its kind in Scandinavia as it covers the broadcasting of a range of blockbuster movies and hit TV series on Viasat’s Scandinavian free-TV channels, as well as the online and mobile rights to the Hollywood Studio’s content for the Viaplay multi-screen online video streaming service. The four year deal starts from 2012.
The agreement covers first run rights to recently released blockbuster Fox feature films including Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Black Swan, Never Let Me Go, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Gulliver's Travels and X-Men: First Class. The agreement also provides access to classic library titles including Titanic, Independence Day and Braveheart.
Viasat has also acquired all first run rights to Fox US network television TV series produced from the beginning of 2012. Previous hit shows have included Buffy – The Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, 24 and Prison Break. In addition, the agreement provides Viasat with the rights to library TV titles and US network TV movies and mini-series.
TV viewers in Scandinavia will be able to watch this broad and exciting selection of newly released and library movies and TV series on Viasat’s nine leading free-TV entertainment channels (TV3, TV3 HD, TV6, TV8, TV3+, TV3+ HD, Viasat4, TV3 Puls and TV10). The same selection will also be available via web-connected devices from Viaplay, which includes free-TV catch-up services (TV3 Play in Sweden and Norway, TV3 Gensyn in Denmark, TV6 Play and TV8 Play in Sweden, Viasat 4 Play in Norway, and TV3+ Gensyn and TV3 Puls Gensyn in Denmark), as well as pay-TV video-on-demand services.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “Fox has a fantastic track record of creating massively popular movies and TV series. This agreement not only further strengthens our linear programming schedule, but also enhances our ever-increasing offering of online streamed content. This is a groundbreaking deal for both Fox and MTG and we are proud to be the first to have structured such a deal in Scandinavia. Viasat is the home of entertainment and our objective is to provide viewers with the highest quality TV content on multiple distribution platforms”.
Marion Edwards, President of International Television at Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, commented: “Fox and Viasat are perfect partners in this important marketplace. Combining the popularity, reach and diverse services of Viasat with the power of the films and series of Fox will create a winning proposition for viewers.”
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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:
Jacob Waern / Matthew Hooper
Tel: +46 (0) 736 992 991 / +44 (0) 7768 440 414
Email: investor.relations@mtg.se
Media Enquiries:
Jacob Waern
Tel: +46 (0) 736 992 991
Email: press@mtg.se
Modern Times Group is an international entertainment broadcasting group with the largest geographical broadcast footprint in Europe. MTG's Viasat Broadcasting operates 28 free-TV channels in 11 countries and 38 pay-tv channels in 32 countries. The pay-tv channels are distributed on Viasat’s own satellite platforms in 9 countries, as well as on third party broadcast networks (including cable, satellite and IPTV) and over the open internet. These free-TV and pay-TV channels and pay-TV platforms attract a total of 125 million viewers in 33 countries. MTG is also the largest shareholder in Russia’s leading independent television broadcaster (CTC Media – Nasdaq: CTCM).
Modern Times Group is a growth company and generated SEK 13.1 billion of sales and SEK 2.4 billion of operating income in 2010. 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 26 May 2011.
Twentieth Century Fox is a subsidiary of News Corporation. News Corporation’s diversified global operations include the production and distribution of motion pictures and television programming; television, satellite, cable and digital media broadcasting and transmission, the publication of newspapers, magazines and books; the production and distribution of promotional and advertising products and services; the development of conditional access and subscriber management systems.