Viasat has held the Formula One™ broadcasting rights in Scandinavia since 2005, and the US PGA Tour broadcasting rights since the early years of TV3, which was launched in 1987.

Live coverage of each season’s all Formula One™ races and qualifying sessions will continue to be shown in Sweden and Norway on the region’s only dedicated motor sports channel – Viasat Motor, and on TV3 PULS in Denmark. Race highlights will be shown on new sports-focused free-TV channel TV10 in Sweden and on Viasat4 in Norway.

US PGA Tour golf will continue to be broadcast on pan-Nordic and Baltic dedicated golf channel Viasat Golf, as well as on Viasat Sport HD in Sweden and Norway. Coverage for the extended contract period between 2011 and 2015 will be available on Nova Sport in Bulgaria and on Viasat Sport East in Russia. The US PGA Tour comprises a total of 600 hours of live broadcasting each year from the US PGA Tour itself, as well as the Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO of MTG, commented: “Formula One motor racing and American PGA golf are two of world sport’s hottest properties and already provide the backbone of our dedicated motor racing and golf pay-TV channels, as well as a key part of the content offering on our broader pay-TV sports channels. We are also able to maximise the value of the rights by airing coverage on our free-TV channels. The securing of these important rights until the end of 2015 reinforces our position as the leading premium pay-TV operator in the Nordic region, and follows the recent deals that have made us the only broadcaster to be showing English Premier League football across Scandinavia and in Bulgaria.”

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Management CEO commented: “I am delighted to continue our association with Viasat.”

Tim Leisure, PGA Tour Senior Vice President, International Television, commented: “We are very pleased to extend our partnership with Viasat over the next five years. The PGA Tour has had a considerable following from the region for a number of years. This, in large part, is due to the number of Nordic players who have become members of the PGA Tour and have had success, particularly from Sweden, including five-time winner Jesper Parnevik to 2009 Players Championship winner Henrik Stenson and recent RBC Canadian Open champion Carl Pettersson.” 

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

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO
Tel: +46 (0) 8 562 000 50 

Investor & Analyst Enquiries:
Matthew Hooper
Tel: +44 (0) 7768 440 414
Email: investor.relations@mtg.se 

Media Enquiries:
Bert Willborg
Tel: +44 (0) 791 2280 850
Email: bert.willborg@mtg.se     

Modern Times Group is a leading international entertainment broadcasting group with the largest geographical broadcast footprint in Europe. MTG's Viasat Broadcasting is the leading free-TV and pay-TV operator in Scandinavia and the Baltics, and has broadcasting operations in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine and Ghana. Viasat’s free-TV and pay-TV channels and pay-TV platforms attract a total of 125 million viewers in 31 countries. MTG is also the major shareholder in Russia’s largest independent television broadcaster (CTC Media – Nasdaq: CTCM), and the number one commercial radio operator and internet retailer of entertainment products in the Nordic region.

Modern Times Group MTG AB class A and B shares are listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm's Large Cap market (‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’).

The information in this announcement is that which Modern Times Group MTG AB is required to disclose under the Securities Markets Act. This information was released for publication at 08.00 CET on 02 August 2010.