Ignas Scheynius

World Screen Weekly, February 15, 2007

Co-Founder & President

Millennium Media Group

High-definition TV is top of mind for many channel operators around the world, particularly as the price of HD-enabled TV sets drops and markets worldwide gear up for their impending transitions from analog to digital TV. Channel operator NonStop Television, a division of the Stockholm-based Millennium Media Group (MMG), is looking to take a leading position in this arena, according to Ignas Scheynius, the company’s co-founder and president. “In Scandinavia, HD is now on the verge of a breakthrough,” he says, “and at the moment there are very few HD channels available for this market.”

NonStop Television is hoping to change that. In November, the company took on the rights to roll out Rainbow Media’s VOOM HD network in Scandinavia and selected other European markets. Since taking on the channel in October, NonStop has closed carriage deals with Canal Digital in Scandinavia, as well as Com Hem in Sweden, Elion in Estonia and Izzi in Latvia. Those deals were followed by a representation agreement for LUXE.tv, a high-definition cable network devoted to the world of luxury. Via an alliance with Lagard�re Networks International, NonStop Television will represent LUXE.tv in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Baltic countries. NonStop also represents Mezzo, another Lagard�re network, in Scandinavia.

While third-party representation is a significant part of NonStop’s business, Scheynius is particularly keen to bolster the company’s own channel portfolio. It currently distributes in the Nordic, Baltic and Benelux territories Star!, a celebrity, entertainment offering; Silver, an independent movie network; and Showtime, delivering Hollywood blockbusters. “We are focusing on a niche that we believe there is a strong demand for, and that is entertainment,” Scheynius says. “We have developed both the passion and the skill working in that area.”

In addition to rolling out more movie and entertainment networks, NonStop’s other key priority for this year will be upgrading its own stable of channels to HD. Scheynius is also exploring the expansion of those channels to other parts of Europe. “We’re active in 11 countries and we’re now looking into Central and Eastern Europe.”

Scheynius is, however, proud of the expertise his company has built within its target markets. “If you look at the areas in which we currently operate—Scandinavia, Benelux, the Baltics—for outsiders, these regions sometimes seem as one country. It’s a number of countries that are alike, but still not that alike. Part of our strength is being able to navigate in these territories, that are small and have things in common but that are vastly different.”

Scheynius has built his entire career in the Scandinavian market. While studying film and television in Sweden in the late 1980s, Scheynius was already producing for television and was quickly hired in 1990 by SVT as its head of feature film acquisitions. Four years later Scheynius made the switch to commercial TV, taking up the post of director of programming at TV1000, before becoming CEO of the premium pay-TV service a year later. During what he calls “a period of consolidation in the Scandinavian market,” Scheynius decided to partner with C. G. Anderson, who at the time was working at Nordisk Film Egmont. “We had similar ideas that there was room in the Scandinavian market for a new niche media house and both of us believed strongly in niche thematic channels.” The result, in October 1998, was the launch of the holding company Millennium Media Group and of NonStop Entertainment, an independent distribution outfit servicing the Nordic and Baltic markets. A year later, the business entered the channels arena with the establishment of NonStop Television, followed by the launch of NonStop Sales, selling content on the international market, and Primetext International, which specializes in subtitling and dubbing.

The channels business will remain MMG’s core focus this year, Scheynius says, particularly in terms of the opportunities presented by new platforms. “There’s a lot of new IPTV players in the market,” he says. “We see growth there. And we strongly believe in rolling out in additional territories.”

Further, NonStop is especially keen on its “One Brand. All Screens.” strategy. “Star! was one of the first channels streamed on mobile in Scandinavia,” Scheynius says. “That happened in the summer of 2005. Silver will now be the first movie channel in the market 24/7 on mobile. We are actively working on launching our channels on mobile and on-demand platforms.”

—By Mansha Daswani