The Modern Times Group is expanding its Viasat offering through the launch of 11 additional HD channels and four play catch-up channels.
The channels will be launched during the fourth quarter of 2012 in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Viasat’s total offering in the Nordic market will therefore include 40 HD channels and 36 play channels under both the Viasat and 3rd party brands.
The premium pay-TV sports channel Viasat Golf and pay-TV factual channels Viasat History, Viasat Explorer, Viasat Nature and Viasat Crime will be launched in crystal clear HD in all four Nordic countries on November 1. The Swedish version of premium pay-TV channel Viasat Sport will be launched in HD in Sweden and Finland on the same date.
The HD version of Viasat Sport’s Norwegian counterpart and the Viasat Fotball channel will also go on air in Norway on the day, and viewers in Sweden, Norway and Finland will also be able to access Viasat Hockey in HD. The free-TV channels TV6 in Sweden and Viasat4 in Norway will also be broadcast in HD.
The Play channels are catch-up channels available through Viasat’s recordable set-top-boxes. The National Geographic HD, National Geographic Wild HD, E! and Disney on Demand channels will be available to customers in all four Nordic countries from October 1.
This is the second time this year that the Group expands its HD and play channel offering, as Viasat launched four new premium pay-TV HD channels in the Nordic region under the Viasat Film brand, and five Film play channels, in all four Nordic countries last March.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, president and CEO of MTG, in a statement: “High Definition content is a key ingredient of our premium pay-TV offering, and the expansion of our HD portfolio adds further value to our leading Viasat offering. The addition of four new play channels will also further increase the range of choice available to our subscribers.
“While we continue to be engaged in the current changes in the pay-TV industry, we are also focused on the ongoing improvement of our core premium offering and on providing our customers with the best and widest range of entertainment content.”
