Modern Times Group, the multi-territory commercial and pay-television broadcaster, has signed three-year extensions to its exclusive rights deals for the Formula One motor-racing championship in multiple Scandinavian and Baltic markets.
Under the terms of its deal with Formula One Group, MTG will hold broadcasting and online rights to Formula One until 2017 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and until 2018 in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. MTG has provided coverage of F1 in these markets since 2005.
The qualifying sessions and races from all grand prix weekends will be shown live with local commentary on MTG’s online pay-television service Viaplay in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, as well as on MTG’s television channels TV3+ (Denmark) and Viasat Motor (Norway and Sweden). Viasat Sport Baltic will broadcast F1 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and chief executive, said: “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.”
Formula One has a strong fanbase in the Nordic and Baltic regions, with interest boosted in the Danish and Swedish markets thanks to the presence of Kevin Magnussen (pictured) and Marcus Ericsson, who race for McLaren and Caterham respectively.