New Viasat Channels to Offer Premier League Coverage Across Scandinavia

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group’s (MTG) TV 2 Sport joint venture in Denmark is launching two new pay-TV channels, which will provide live coverage of Barclays Premier League football matches for the next three years.

The TV 2 Premier League channels—one in standard definition, the other in HD—will be launched on the Viasat satellite platform and third-party IPTV networks in Denmark on August 13. The stations will provide coverage of all 380 matches during the Premier League season.

Subscribers to the Danish TV 2 Sport offering will receive the new Premier League channels as part of their existing subscriptions. Access to the new services does require a Viasat HD subscription, an HD-ready TV and an HD box from Viasat.

This follows the earlier announcements by Viasat of the acquisition of the exclusive rights to English Premier League football in Sweden, and the carriage of three TV 2 HD channels that feature live coverage of the Premier League games in Norway. Viasat will then be the only pan-Scandinavian pay-TV operator to offer Barclays Premier League coverage to its subscribers in all three countries.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “We are now the only pay-TV operator offering English Premier League football coverage on a pan-Scandinavian basis. This changes the Scandinavian pay-TV broadcasting landscape in terms of premium sports coverage, and clearly positions Viasat as the home of premium sports entertainment by adding to our already extensive portfolio of local and international sports rights. Not only will subscribers be able to watch matches from one of the most exciting leagues in the world, with local language commentary, but they will also be able to access a wide range of high-quality related programming, including highlights, profiles, interviews and analysis.”