Maker Studios is the world’s largest provider of online video content for millennials (13-34 year olds) — its network of 55,000 channel partners has garnered over 550 million subscribers, generating more than 8.5 billion monthly views. Maker is home to global YouTube stars such as PewDiePie, whose channel has over 30 million subscribers and nearly 6 billion total video views. The Maker network also includes the popular series Epic Rap Battles of History, along with additional content creator partners such as John Bain aka Total Biscuit and Bad Lip Reading.

Sam Wick, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Operations and General Manager of Enterprise at Maker Studios, commented: “The Maker platform has a global reach and large international following, with 70 percent of our audience based outside the U.S. We are dedicated to delivering our millennial-focused content in organic ways for international markets. As an industry leader in global entertainment, MTG is a perfect partner for us as we look to expand our offerings for international viewers online.”

Jakob Mejlhede, MTG Senior Vice President Acquisitions & Programming, commented: “It is all about making relevant content available digitally on multiple platforms so that our audiences can enjoy even more varied entertainment experiences. Maker has some of the strongest online properties around so this is a great addition to our offering.”

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG President and CEO, commented: “This deal is the first-of-its-kind for MTG and another example of what we mean by shaping the future of entertainment. This deal follows our acquisition of a stake in Splay, the largest multichannel network in the Nordics, and of NetInfo, which operates the largest video-sharing service for local content in Bulgaria. We now have online catch–up free-TV services in a total of nine countries and our leading subscription video on demand provider, Viaplay, is available in six countries. Our commitment to expanding our digital footprint and offering is clear and securing great content through long term partnerships is key to this.”      

For further information, please visit www.mtg.se or contact:

Investors & Analysts
Tel:                       46 (0) 73 699 2714
Email:                  investor.relations@mtg.se

Journalists
Tel:                       46 (0) 73 699 2709
Email:                  press@mtg.se

Maker Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is a next-generation media and technology company and the world’s largest provider of online video content for millennials. Founded in 2009, Maker empowers creators and inspires expression. Attracting more than 8.5 billion views monthly with over 550 million loyal subscribers globally, Maker reaches audiences across platforms—including the proprietary video platform Maker.tv. Maker is home to award-winning content across genres including the hugely popular series “Epic Rap Battles of History.” Maker is headquartered in Culver City, Calif. and has operations in New York, London, and Singapore. For more information visit www.makerstudios.com.

Modern Times Group (MTG) is an international entertainment group with operations that span six 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 14.1 billion in 2013. 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 September 2014.

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