Sanoma Entertainment and Viasat announce co-operation

Sanoma Entertainment subsidiary Nelonen Media strengthens its position in the premium television market by bringing out Nelonen Sport Pro, a new pay TV channel concentrating on sports, in February 2010. The co-operation enables Nelonen Media to tap into Viasat’s wide network of sports broadcasting rights. Nelonen Sport Pro aims to be the best sports television channel in Finland.

– Strategic co-operation with Viasat, which is part of the MTG group, opens up the possibility to do sports acquisitions that cover all the Nordic countries, said Anu Nissinen, President of Sanoma Entertainment.

– Nelonen Media’s sports programming will diversify considerably with this move. We will become a strong player in the sports pay TV market, stated Hans Edin, Nelonen Media’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Nelonen Sport Pro’s programming will include top-level ice hockey. It will offer the Finnish ice hockey league (SM-liiga) finals, NHL, Russia’s KHL League and the Swedish Allsvenskan, among others. The channel will also broadcast the world’s best football in the form of the UEFA Champions League, The FA Cup, The French League and the home games of the English national team. Top motor sports will also be represented in the programming, including, but not limited to, the ever more popular MotoGP Series, starring Finland’s Mika Kallio.

– Nelonen Sport Pro offers the Finnish sports fan a superb package of the most interesting sports on television with its live broadcasts. The channel will feature top-level ice hockey, football and motor sports. In addition, the channel will also show tennis from the Masters series, the best of the world’s golf entertainment and American football from the NFL, described Jorma Paakkari, Head of Sports, Nelonen Media.

– Our co-operation with Sanoma Entertainment supports our commitment to offer our customers the best possible national and international sports content, commented Viasat Finland’s President Johannes Leppänen. A new locally produced sports channel is a welcome addition to our already diverse content package, and with this co-operation agreement, we can provide our customers with the top sports channel in Finland, produced for and tailored to fit the domestic marketplace, he added.

Nelonen Sport Pro will be available through operators that offer pay TV packages. The aim is that from now on everybody in Finland will have the opportunity to view Nelonen Sport Pro’s live broadcasts all over the country. The channel will be available on cable TV networks, the terrestrial broadcasting network, and exclusively in Viasat’s digital satellite TV service.