Digitaltveurope.com

Modern Times Group’s Viasat Broadcasting is to launch a Viasat Premium HD package on Russian service provider MTS’s IPTV and digital cable platforms. 

The ‘Viasat Premium HD’ package comprises Viasat’s two premium HD movie channels – TV1000 Premium HD and TV1000 Megahit HD, dedicated comedy channel – TV1000 Comedy HD – and two HD documentary channels – Viasat History HD and Viasat Nature HD.

The package costs RUB400 (€9.80) a month and will be made available to all MTS IPTV and digital cable subscribers as an optional addition to their Basic channel packages. The package will initially be made available for purchase by approximately 350,000 MTS regional subscribers in over 50 Russian cities.

The channels primarily feature content from four major Hollywood studios – Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros and NBC Universal International Television Distribution – with whom Viasat has signed multi-year licensing agreements to enable subscribers to access movies as close to their box office release dates as possible for a number of years to come.

Irina Gofman, CEO of MTG’s Russian, CIS and emerging market pay TV operations, said: “It’s with great pleasure that we announce that our Viasat Premium HD package will be available to MTS digital TV subscribers across Russia. Our high definition channels offer the latest Hollywood blockbuster movies and high quality documentaries in crystal clear HD. The two most watched pay-TV channels in Russia are our TV1000 Kino and TV1000 East channels and our pay-TV movie offering in Russia is unrivalled in terms of choice and popularity.