Modern Times Group Extends Baltic Rights to Ice Hockey World Championship

Modern Times Group (MTG), viagra 100mg the international entertainment broadcasting group, help today announced it has prolonged its exclusive live Baltic broadcasting rights to the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship until 2017.

The rights include, but are not limited to, broadcast coverage on free-TV, pay-TV, mobile devices and the internet. The rights have been acquired from Infront Sports & Media.

MTG will broadcast games from the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and Division 1 on its free-TV channels and Viasat Sport Baltic premium pay-TV sports channel. MTG has broadcast coverage of the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in the Baltics since 1999.

The 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will be jointly hosted by Finland and Sweden in May and the Latvian national team will participate in group A, playing Russia in the first game.

Latvian viewers of the TV3 and TV6 free-TV channels will be able to watch 20 live games from the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, including all of the games played by the Latvian national side, the semi-finals and the final. A total of 50 games will be shown on the Viasat Sport Baltic pay-TV channel.

TV viewers in Estonia and Lithuania will also be able to watch 20 live games, including the semi-final and the final, on the TV6 free-TV channel, as well as 50 games on the Viasat Sport Baltic pay-TV channel.

Viasat Sport Baltic also broadcasts coverage of matches from the Kontinental Hockey League, including all of the games featuring Latvian team Dinamo Riga.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “We are delighted to have prolonged our exclusive broadcasting rights for a further six years. This is the marquee international ice hockey right and one of the most popular sports events in the Baltics. It has consistently delivered high ratings on our free-TV channels, and been a key property in our expanding portfolio of pay-TV sports rights. We look forward to extending our successful partnership with Infront and the IIHF.”

Bruno Marty, Infront’s Executive Director Winter Sports, added: “MTG with its multiple media platforms in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia is a first-rate partner to work with in the Baltic states. For the fans in the region, this long-term contract guarantees another six years of comprehensive coverage of the IIHF flagship events, including extensive live broadcasts.”