Modern Times Group, the multi-territory commercial and pay-television broadcaster which owns leading esports company ESL, will launch what it claims will be the first 24/7 global esports channel next month.
The channel, entitled eSportsTV, will initially be available in the Nordic and Baltic regions through MTG’s Viasat pay-television platform. MTG said it is also in talks with distributors and operators from around the world.
The channel will show over 2,000 hours of live coverage each year from leading championships including ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League and DreamHack.
Arnd Benninghoff, chief executive of MTG, and Peter Nørrelund, chief executive of MTG Sport, said in a statement: “The channel is all about building awareness and growing the gaming community and fan base. There are over two billion gamers in the world and we have seen an explosion of interest in esports, with the global fan base now rapidly rising towards 250 million, which is why we want to make more and more esports content available on as many screens as possible.”