Modern Times Group has signed agreements with Boxer and Canal Digital that will both boost free-TV penetration and strengthen its pay-TV offer in Denmark.
The channel distribution agreement with Boxer TV-Access ends MTG’s previous refusal to put its channels on the Danish DTT system. It will significantly boost the national penetration of free-to-air channels TV3 and TV3 Puls.
In a second agreement, MTG has agreed to add C More Entertainment AB’s (‘C More’) Canal 8 and Canal 9 pay-TV channels to its Viasat satellite pay-TV platform.
The agreement with Boxer will puts MTG’s TV3 and TV3 PULS free-TV channels available on the platform from January 1 and July 1, 2013 respectively. The additional distribution will boost the national perceived penetration of TV3 from 67% to approximately 76%, whilst TV3 PULS’ penetration will increase from 46% to approximately 54%. MTG joint venture channel TV 2 Sport will also be made available on Canal Digital’s satellite pay-TV platform in Denmark from 1 January 2013.
TV3 and TV3 PULS will be available in the Boxer “Mini”, “Mix” and “Max” channel packages. TV3 will also be made available to all Boxer subscribers for an introductory period between January 1 and February 28, 2013.
The Canal 8 and Canal 9 channels will be included in MTG’s Viasat satellite pay-TV package in Denmark from January 1, 2013. MTG also has signed an agreement with C More to include these channels in Viasat´s offering on the Waoo! IPTV network from the same date.
“This is a major change for us and follows similar developments in the past in both Sweden and Norway,” said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO, MTG. “At the same time, the inclusion of the additional third party channels in our Viasat satellite and IPTV offerings also further strengthens our premium pay-TV offering and consolidates our position as the number one provider of premium sports, TV series and movie content in Denmark.”
Boxer Denmark, where commercial channel TV2 Denmark has been pay since the beginning of the year, currently has 371,000 subscribers.