MTG Expands Viasat Bouquet in Nordic Region

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) is launching 11 HD channels and four catch-up services as part of its Viasat offerings in the Nordic market.

The premium pay-TV sports channel Viasat Golf and the pay-TV factual channels Viasat History, Viasat Explorer, Viasat Nature and Viasat Crime will be launched in HD in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland on November 1. The Swedish version of Viasat Sport will launch in HD in Sweden and Finland on the same day. The HD version of Viasat Sport’s Norwegian service and the Viasat Fotball channel will also launch in Norway on November 1. Viewers in Sweden, Norway and Finland can access the Viasat Hockey channel in HD. The free-TV channels TV6 in Sweden and Viasat4 in Norway are also getting an HD launch.

There are also four new "Play" channels, which are catch-up services available through Viasat’s recordable set-top boxes. National Geographic HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, E! and Disney on Demand channels will be available across the Nordic region starting October 1.

Viasat’s total offering in the Nordic region will reach 40 HD channels and 36 Play services.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “High-definition content is a key ingredient of our premium pay-TV offering, and the expansion of our HD portfolio adds further value to our leading Viasat offering. The addition of four new play channels will also further increase the range of choice available to our subscribers. While we continue to be engaged in the current changes in the pay-TV industry, we are also focused on the ongoing improvement of our core premium offering and on providing our customers with the best and widest range of entertainment content.”