Ed Vaizey, the UK’s Minister for Culture, Communications & the Creative Industries at the DCMS, has officially opened MTG’s new playout facility in Chiswick, West London.
One of the most advanced in Europe, it brings together all the company’s employees in the UK under one roof for the first time in seven years.
The Swedish company started broadcasting from the UK in 1987 and the group now transmits 115 channels to 143 countries on six continents.
However, not all are from the UK, with MTG having also operated a facility in the Latvian capital, Riga, since 2010.
MTG’s new Chiswick facility has 60 different feeds, transmitting over 478 hours of content every day.
Its output includes 25 live sports events each week.
In his speech, Vaizey referred to the Digital Single Market and said that there has to be a conversation between the government and industry on the issue of licensing and portability of content, adding that, “we don’t want to undermine successful business models”.
Commenting on the Audiovisual Services Directive, he added that the government is keen to work with industry to get it right.
Meanwhile, Matthew Hooper, executive VP of corporate communications at MTG, also commenting on the Digital Single Market, said that the company shares the view that the current model is the one that works.
