MTG Launches New Sports Portal

[BGonaSTICK]

International entertainment broadcasting group Modern Times Group has launched a new dedicated sports web site in Sweden, Norway and Denmark – viasatsport.com. The web site will enable viewers to access a wide range of live coverage of major sporting events, as well as related news and information services. The launch coincides with the initial group stages of the 2006/2007 UEFA Champions’ League season and the site will provide live streaming of all games from the current season, as well as of the qualifying matches for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championships in Austria and Switzerland. The coverage is being offered as ‘pay-per-view’ events, or on a ‘season ticket’ or ‘VIP’ basis.

The web site will offer live scores, results and statistics, news and feature services, profiles, forums and sports TV Guides in local languages. viasatsport.com will feature extensive coverage of a wide range of sports including football, golf, ice hockey, tennis, motor sport, handball, skiing, track and field athletics, and NFL American football.

The launch of the new sports portal builds on the success of Viasat Broadcasting’s onside.dk site, which has become one of the most successful Danish sports portals.

Subscribers to the Viasat ‘Gold’ digital satellite TV package will be offered viasatsport.com services at a reduced price.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: "The launch of viasatsport.com further builds on Viasat’s position as the number one sports television broadcaster in the Nordic region. It also demonstrates our commitment to utilise all available channels and sports rights, in order to maximise the offering to our customers through as many windows and platforms as possible.

"The demand for quality dedicated sports coverage and services is huge and only continues to grow, and we always seek to obtain the Internet rights to the TV broadcasting assets that we secure. Our ambition is to fully leverage our extensive portfolio of sports rights and online properties to create one of the region’s leading sports portals. Combined with our four premium dedicated Viasat Sport channels, we can now offer customers an unrivalled online sports experience and the most complete site in the Nordic market.

"This new initiative springs from the creation of our New Media focused group, which is tasked with exploring and capitalising on the MTG Group’s wide range of content and services to maximise our potential and make the most of new opportunities."