The new channel will be made available through cable TV packages in Russia and CIS countries, as well as on Viasat’s own satellite DTH TV platform in the Baltics.

Six Viasat branded channels (TV1000 East, TV1000 Russian Kino, Viasat History, Viasat Explorer, Viasat Sport 2 and Viasat Sport 3) are included in Viasat’s premium satellite pay-TV packages in the Baltics and, together with the TV1000 Balkan channel, had attracted 15.6 million subscriptions via third party cable and satellite pay-TV operators in seventeen countries across the region by the end of June 2006.

Amory B. Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of NASN, commented: “Viasat is the perfect partner for NASN. Our strong content portfolio, combined with Viasat’s market presence and distribution experience, will provide the new channel with the best possible platform to establish itself as a leading sports brand in these new territories. This is yet another milestone in NASN’s mission to expand throughout Europe”.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “This latest channel launch demonstrates our commitment to providing viewers in Eastern Europe with the very best in sports entertainment from around the world. NASN is a leading provider of North American sports coverage in Europe, and we are delighted to have joined forces with them to create and develop a new dedicated Viasat channel for sports fans across the region. We have seen exponential growth in our Central and East European pay-TV channel business – going from 0 to over 16 million subscriptions in just three and a half years – and we look forward to offering yet another premium entertainment brand to subscribers”.



For further information, please visit www.mtg.se, email info@mtg.se, or contact:
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50
Matthew Hooper, Corporate Communications tel: +44 (0) 20 7321 5010


Modern Times Group is an international entertainment broadcasting group with operations in more than 30 countries around the world. MTG is the largest Free-to-air and Pay-TV operator in Scandinavia and the Baltics, the largest shareholder in Russia´s largest independent television network, and the number one commercial radio operator in the Nordic region. The Viasat DTH satellite TV platform offers digital multi-channel TV packages of 50 own-produced and third party entertainment channels. Viasat TV channels now reach over 80 million people every day to viewers in 21 countries across Europe.

Modern Times Group MTG AB class A and B shares are listed on the Large-Cap list of Nordiska Börsen under the symbols ´MTG A´ and ´MTG B’.