Advanced Television

Viasat distribution deals with four majors

September 13, 2012

Modern Times Group announced that it has signed a number of renewed multi-year licensing agreements with NBCUniversal International Television Distribution, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, Nordisk Film and SF Film.

Viasat Broadcasting has signed two separate licensing agreements with NBCUniversal International Television Distribution. The first licensing agreement is for the exclusive free-TV rights in Sweden, Norway and Denmark to a broad range of current and library feature films, as well as scripted and unscripted television series. The agreement has been entered in by Viasat in partnership with the public service TV broadcasters in each of the Scandinavian countries. The second licensing agreement is for the exclusive pay-TV and subscription video-on-demand rights in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland for current and library feature films. The NBCUniversal titles will be made available on the premium pay-TV Viasat Film channels, as well as on the Viaplay video on-demand online subscription pay-TV service (‘Viaplay’).

The multi-year licensing agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution provides Viasat Broadcasting with access to what is commonly known as the “2nd Pay Television Window” of Twentieth Century Fox film content. The agreement also includes many of Fox’s well-known library films and provides for catch-up rights to linear broadcasts on the Viasat Film thematic premium pay-TV channels in the Nordic region, which are available on the Viasat satellite pay-TV platform, IPTV and cable TV networks. The catch-up service is available through Viasat’s set-top-boxes and Fox films will also be made available on Viaplay, which is made available via internet-connected devices including computers, smart phones, tablets, Viasat set-top-boxes and TV sets.

The multi-year licensing agreement with SF provides Viasat with the exclusive pay-TV rights to content from AB Svensk Filmindustri (SF Film) in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland to show Nordic feature films produced and co-produced by SF Film. Included in the deal are the exclusive online and mobile rights. The agreement covers local first-run feature titles and library feature films. The first-run and library movies will be shown on the premium pay-TV Viasat Film channels, and as part of the movie package on the online pay-TV service Viaplay.

The multi-year licensing agreement with Nordisk Film provides Viasat Broadcasting with exclusive first run and library title movies on pay-TV for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The first-run and library feature movies will be shown on the premium pay-TV Viasat Film channels. MTG has also acquired exclusive free-TV rights for first run and library movie titles in Sweden, and library titles in Denmark. In Sweden the exclusive free-TV rights are for both first-run and library titles, while in Denmark the free-TV rights are for library titles. The movies broadcast on free-TV will be shown on Viasat’s free-TV channels in the two countries. Viaplay has the SVOD rights to show library titles across the Nordic region.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “The signing of the agreements further solidifies our position as the leading premium content provider in the Nordic region, both via traditional linear pay-TV channels and on-demand. Viasat Broadcasting has licensing agreements with six major content providers, which enables Viasat and Viaplay to offer a unique breadth of exclusive premium content and a wide range of popular library titles. The unrivalled range of movies and TV series, as well as the wide range of library content will ensure that we will continue to strengthen our position as the home of entertainment, both offline and online.”

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