Eurosport to debut on Norway’s RiksTV

Eurosport is to launch on the Norwegian DTT platform RiksTV by November 15. It follows the closure in September of the Viasat-operated SportN.

“We have worked intensively to put in place a channel to compensate for SportN and are pleased that we now can offer Eurosport in the Rikspakken (national pack),” said RiksTV CEO Espen Thorsby. “Eurosport is a strong brand, and has attractive sports rights, such as winter sports, motor sports, tennis and cycling.”

Amanda Evans, managing director of Eurosport Television in the Nordics, said the agreement would bring RiksTV viewers a whole spectrum of sports that they had previously been unable to see. “With this distribution, Eurosport will have 80% penetration in Norway, and we are glad that many Norwegians will be able to see the exclusive events that Eurosport continues to show,” she said.

Eurosport launched local broadcasts for the Nordic region in 1993 from a studio base in Stockholm. Since 2006, Norwegian commentaries have been broadcast from new facilities in Oslo. Of interest to Norwegians will be the channel’s coverage of alpine skiing, ski jumping, cross country, curling, snowboarding, and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In its two years of operation RiksTV has grown to 420,000 subscribers, though short of initial expectations.