STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 27, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Modern Times Group MTG AB, the international media group, today announced that Viasat Broadcasting has acquired the `Club TV' rights for the next three years for all matches played by two of the world's leading football clubs - Manchester United and Chelsea.
Viasat has acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast Manchester United and Chelsea Club-TV in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The coverage will be broadcast on dedicated sports channel `Viasat Sport 2' from the beginning of July.
Club-TV provides the viewer with unique coverage including live games, highlights, news, interviews, reserve team matches, off-season tournaments and friendlies. Certain matches, including Premier League games, are broadcast on a delayed basis.
The acquisition adds to Viasat's already extensive portfolio of international football rights, which includes coverage of the UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup, English national team home games, the annual Community Shield match between the winners of the Premier League and the FA Cup, the English first division and League Cup, Swedish national team home and away games, and highlights of Swedish Premier League football matches.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: ``Viasat is the home of sports entertainment. We have an unrivalled portfolio of rights and provide our viewers with high quality sports events from the leading championships around the world, featuring superstar players and the world's top teams. Club-TV provides sports fans with unique coverage and a look inside two of the biggest and most popular football clubs in the world."
For further information, please visit www.mtg.se, email info@mtg.se:
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50
Matthew Hooper, Investor & Press Enquiries tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010
MTG is an international media group with operations in more than 30 countries around the world and principal broadcasting businesses in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, Hungary and Russia. MTG is the largest Free-to-air and Pay-TV operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions and the largest commercial radio operator in Northern Europe. MTG's Viasat channels reach over 50 million people in 14 countries every day and MTG Radio's stations reach 3 million daily listeners. The Viasat Broadcasting DTH satellite TV platform offers digital multi-channel TV packages of over 50 own-produced and third party entertainment channels. MTG is a leading European direct response TV network operator, broadcasting home shopping channels into 100 million homes in 52 countries, as well as one of the world's leading originators and producers of Reality TV formats and a global provider of subtitling and dubbing services to the entertainment industry.
Modern Times Group MTG AB class A and B shares are listed on the Stockholmsborsen O-list (symbols: MTGA and MTGB).
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