Turner Expands in Scandinavia

STOCKHOLM/LONDON: Turner Broadcasting Europe has acquired 100 percent of the Millennium Media Group to create a new channels and content business targeted at the Scandinavian market.

The new group will be created from the combination of Turner Nordic and MMG and will be led and managed by the existing MMG management and founders, CG Anderson and Ignas Scheynius. The MMG portfolio of Star!, Showtime, Silver, Silver HD and TV7 joins Turner’s brands: CNN International, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies and Boomerang. The expanded group will also include the MMG divisions NonStop Entertainment, NonStop Sales and PrimeText International. Turner and MMG’s combined subscriber reach in the Nordic markets alone is over 20 million subscribers.

MMG co-founder Ignas Scheynius commented: "Millennium Media Group has expanded rapidly since we founded our business in 1998 by using a successful formula of local focus, deep content relationships and entrepreneurial drive. When we met the Turner team we realized how much they value our core skills. Turner have the desire and resources to support us as we push to take MMG to the next level in terms of delivering high quality channels and content."

Co-founder CG Anderson added: "We are very exited to be working with Turner to combine our portfolio of channels and increase our mutual scale in the Nordic region and beyond. Turner has brands, content and know how that can only improve the services we provide for our customers and viewers"

Pete Flamman, senior VP and general manager for Northern Europe at Turner Broadcasting System Europe, said: "I am delighted that CG and Ignas have agreed to join Turner and manage our combined businesses. During the next year we will focus on three initial priorities. We plan to invest in the core Nordic channels in terms of content, marketing and also by introducing the TNT brand. We want to accelerate MMG’s successful push in to new and emerging markets. And of course we will work hard to ensure all our staff enjoy the benefits of being part of an ambitious and growing company."