STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ) (‘MTG’ or ‘the Group’) (STO:MTGA)(STO:MTGB), the international entertainment group, today announced that it has extended its content licencing agreements with Disney Nordic for first-run and library movie rights for pay-TV in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. MTG has also extended the carriage agreement to include Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD on the Viasat platforms in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
The selection of movies available will include exclusive first run rights to such recent hits as Marvel’s “Iron Man 3”, “Thor: The Dark World”, Disney’s “Wreck-it-Ralph”, Disney/Pixar’s “Brave” and “Monsters University” and exclusive linear broadcasting rights to a variety of classic films such as “Cabaret”, “Evita”, and “Runaway Bride”. The movies will air on MTG’s six Viasat Film thematic premium pay-TV channels in the Nordic region, which are available on the Viasat satellite pay-TV platform, as well as third-party IPTV and cable networks.
MTG’s online Viaplay service will also have the subscription video on demand rights for Disney first-run features exclusively, and library titles across the Nordic region. Subscribers to Viaplay can already enjoy full seasons of award-winning ABC Studios series on the ABC Studios subscription on demand service, including “Grey’s Anatomy” and recent hit series like “Once Upon a Time”, while “Lost” and “Criminal Minds” will be available next year. Viaplay subscribers can access these hundreds of hours of content on internet connected devices including personal computers, smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs, set-top-boxes, and games consoles.
In the Baltics, MTG has a multi-year agreement in place to show Disney first-run movies and series, as well as classic Disney animation titles and library feature movies on the Group’s free-TV channels in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “Disney is one of the world’s leading entertainment brands and continues to release a number of the highest grossing box office titles every year. They also have a large back catalogue of some of the most loved movies from recent years. It is therefore fantastic that we have now extended our ability to bring these magical entertainment experiences to our Viasat and Viaplay subscribers and free-TV viewers across multiple countries. We have enjoyed a long and successful partnership with Disney and look forward to continuing this for years to come.”
Casper Bjørner, Country Manager, The Walt Disney Company Nordic commented: “This agreement builds on our existing collaboration with MTG, allowing viewers to enjoy an even greater range of high quality entertainment, with greater flexibility in how and when they can access it, while continuing our successful free-TV association in the Baltics and distribution of Disney Channels across the Nordic and Baltic regions.”
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Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment group with operations that span four continents and include free-TV, pay-TV, radio and content production businesses. MTG’s Viasat Broadcasting operates free-TV and pay-TV channels, which are available on Viasat’s own satellite platforms and third party networks, and also distributes TV content over the internet. MTG is also the largest shareholder in CTC Media, which is Russia’s leading independent television broadcaster.
Modern Times Group is a growth company and generated net sales of SEK 13.3 billion in 2012. MTG’s Class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm’s Large Cap index under the symbols ‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’.
The information in this announcement is that which Modern Times Group MTG AB is required to disclose under the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. It was released for publication at 08:00 CET on 4 December 2013.
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