MTG: LAUNCH OF VIASAT HOCKEY PAY-TV CHANNEL IN SWEDEN Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) (‘MTG’ or ‘the Group’), the international entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that Viasat Broadcasting will launch Sweden’s only dedicated ice hockey channel at the start of the new season in the Autumn. Viasat Hockey will be available on the Viasat satellite platform as part of Viasat’s premium sports package, and for distribution via third party networks. The channel will feature exclusive and extensive coverage of Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan league, as well as the annual IIHF World Championship, the Kontinental Hockey League, the KHL and Europe’s Champions Hockey League.
The move follows the acquisition of the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan league for the next 4 years. HockeyAllsvenskan is one of the most popular sports leagues in Sweden and the rights include the regular season as well as qualification matches for the Elitserien premier league.
Viasat has also successfully prolonged its exclusive broadcasting rights to the KHL for another 3 years. The KHL international ice hockey league brings together 21 teams from Russia and one team each from Latvia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. At least 64 KHL games will be broadcast on Viasat Hockey each season, including the 18 play-off games and the All-star game.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO of MTG, commented: “This launch is the latest in a series of launches of highly popular localised sports channels, and reflects our strategy to provide the very best in local and international sports content to viewers. Viasat Hockey will sit alongside our Viasat Sport, Viasat Fotboll and Viasat Motor thematic pay-TV channels in Sweden, and we now have 12 local market sports channels in 16 countries across Europe.
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For further information, please visit www.mtg.se
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