Viasat Extends UEFA Champions League Rights

STOCKHOLM: Viasat Broadcasting has extended its exclusive live broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania until the end of the 2011-2012 season, and has also acquired the exclusive live free-to-air broadcast rights to the English Premier League for Viasat1 in Ghana.

The UEFA Champions League matches will air on Viasat’s TV6 channels in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and on pay-TV channel Viasat Sport Baltic across the region. Viasat has been broadcasting the UEFA Champions League in the Baltics since 2002, and also holds the exclusive broadcasting rights to the championship in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Viasat has extended the non-exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League for Bulgaria and Finland until the end of the 2011-2012 season as well.

The English Premier League will be the first sports rights aired on Viasat1 in Ghana, which launched in December 2008 as Modern Times Group’s first African free-TV channel. Coverage kicks off with the match between Everton and Arsenal on August 15. The rights have been acquired for one year, and Viasat will broadcast a minimum of 33 matches from the 2009-2010 season.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of Modern Times Group, commented: “The extension of the UEFA Champions League rights in the Baltic countries continue to demonstrate our commitment to deliver the best premium sports content to our viewers. Our acquisition of the Premier League rights in Ghana is the next step in the development of our first African channel. We are proud to continue our work to implement MTG’s successful business model in the country, whilst offering viewers the very best in premium sports entertainment.”