"THE BAR" SOLD TO AUSTRALIA AND PORTUGAL The leading international media group Modern Times Group MTG AB (OM Stockholm Exchange MTGA, MTGB; Nasdaq: MTGNY) today announces the first sale of a Swedish program television format outside Europe. The Strix- produced "Baren" ("The Bar") - now a successful TV3 program - will be produced by Pearson Television Worldwide Production for Australia and Portugal. "The Bar," the first Swedish wholly-interactive docusoap is in its second season of success on TV3 in Sweden and on the Swedish part of the Internet portal Everyday.com. Participants struggle to run a bar in a real restaurant, Gamla Stans Bryggeri, in Stockholm. They are followed 24 hours a day by cameras, both in the bar and in the apartment where they all reside together. All of the goings-on can be seen directly on Everyday.com A summary is aired for 30 minutes each day on TV3. Every Saturday, an hour-long live broadcast is aired, in which TV and web viewers vote to exclude one of the participants. The one participant left at the end of the season, in Sweden the day before Christmas eve, receives SEK 1,000,000. This successful format is being used this fall for TV3 in Norway and TV3 in Denmark, as well as on Everyday.com in these countries. Says Anna Bråkenhielm, president of Strix: "The interest from other production companies and TV channels in enormous. But it's a big step from interest to actually selling a Swedish original format in the tough competition that prevails on the global market. So we are really thrilled that we now have the first license with Pearson Television, which is truly global player in TV production." The deal with Person Television Worldwide specifies that Pearson will produce 72 episodes of the Strix format "The Bar" for television in Australia and Portugal. Says David Lyle, head of entertainment development and acquisition at Pearson Television Worldwide Production: "This just shows the strength in 'The Bar' format - that a country like Australia, in such a distant part of the world, sees it relevant to produce programs for Australian viewers. Our local production companies will work with Strix to repeat the success of the Swedish program. "The Bar" was recently nominated for the Indy Crystal Globe Award in the USA by the Global Association of Independent Television (GAIT). The award was created to recognize and support independent production of formats for television or Internet, i.e. shows not associated with the large, established American production companies. Says Kinna Bellander, head of business area Modern Studies: "We have a strong profile of successful television formats. They have proved to be more and more attractive for the international market. Strix has seen a great deal of interest both from American television networks as well as from international producers and television company distributors." Strix Television is the most successful production company in MTG's business area Modern Studios, which includes all MTG companies that produce or distribute content. Strix Television was the first company to produce "Expedition: Robinson." In the USA, this format has enjoyed great success under the name "Survivor." Strix produces this docusoap for TV3 Norway and TV3 Denmark as well as for Germany and Holland/Belgium. The companies included in Modern Studios are, in addition to Strix and Modern Entertainment, Nordic Artist, Sonet Film, Freeport, and Modern Television. Says Hans-Holger Albrecht, Chief Operating Officer and future president of MTG: "In the business area Modern Studios we have assembled the companies important for our strategy to focus on content. The distribution methods within the media industry are on the increase, so owning rights is more and more important. It's also very important to invest in formats that can be sold globally." For further information, visit www.mtg.se, send an e-mail to info@sharedvalue.net, or contact: Hans-Holger Albrecht, COO future president of MTG, +46 8-562 000 50 David Lyle, head of entertainment development and acquisition, Pearson Television Worldwide Production, +44-207 691 66 01. Modern Times Group MTG AB has six business areas: Viasat Broadcasting (free and pay tv comprising 18 television channels in eight countries), Radio (seven networks in five countries) Publishing (daily financial newspaper, magazines, and books), Modern Interactive (traditional home shopping, e-commerce, Internet, and teletext), SDI Media (subtitling and dubbing services), and Modern Studios (content production and film library). Modern Times Group MTG AB's class A and B shares are listed on OM Stockholm Exchange's O list (symbols: MTGA and MTGB) and on the Nasdaq International Market in New York (symbol MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/22/20000922BIT00480/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/09/22/20000922BIT00480/bit0002.pdf