Modern Times Group (MTG) has extended its exclusive broadcasting and online rights to Formula 1 racing by agreeing new three-year deals. It will hold the rights until 2017 in the Baltics and 2018 in Scandinavia, where it has provided coverage since 2005.
The qualifying sessions and races from all grand prix weekends will be shown live with local commentary on MTG’s online pay-TV service Viaplay in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, as well as in HD on MTG’s TV channels TV3+ (Denmark) and Viasat Motor (Norway, Sweden), and Viasat Sport Baltic (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania).
In addition to race coverage, subscribers to the Viasat satellite platform and Viaplay will receive extra coverage such as on-board camera feeds, driver tracking and timing and highlights.
MTG’s channels are available on its own Viasat satellite platform and a wide range of third party pay-TV networks.
Formula 1 racing attracted a global TV audience of 450 million people in 2013 and is hugely popular in the Nordic and Baltic regions.
Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One Group, commented: “I am delighted we have managed to continue our successful relationship and hope that together we can continue to grow the Formula One fan base.”
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and CEO, added: “Formula One is one of the world’s most exciting and watched sports, and is widely followed in our territories. We have enjoyed a long and successful involvement in the sport and partnership with its management team, so it is great to extend this for years to come. As with so many of our sports rights, we hold them for a long time so that we can invest in the brands and help build the audiences. Our live sports offering is the clear market leader – both on and off line – and we are as committed as ever to bringing our viewers the very best in sports entertainment.”
