By: Linda Liepina
Modern Times Group, the international entertainment broadcasting group, today announced that Viasat Broadcasting is investing in a new broadcast hub to be located in Riga. The playout facility is designed to be able to operate more than 32 channels and employ 120 people.
The announcement was made today at a press conference in Riga in the presence of Valdis Dombrovskis, the prime minister of Latvia, and Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG.
Currently Viasat Broadcasting’s free-TV channels in the Baltic region are broadcasted in each country, via smaller playout premises where the channels have their offices; Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.
The new playout hub in Riga Industrial Park will initially operate Viasat Broadcasting’s eight free-TV channels in the Baltic, TV3 and TV6 in each country and 3+ in Estonia and Latvia, as well as Viasat Sport East currently distributed to the Baltic region and nine additional countries within the CIS.
In 2009 the playout will employ around 40 people, compared to the eight employees currently operating the existing Riga playout.
The new facility will also be home to the other MTG operations in Latvia, providing offices for the TV3, 3+ and TV6 channels, the STAR FM radio station and Viasat’s satellite pay-TV operation.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, President & CEO of MTG commented: “By investing in the new facility in Riga we are improving the quality of our current channels broadcast in the Baltics. We are also minimising the Group’s risk exposure by having a second large playout centre. Today most of our channels are located in London. With the new playout centre in Riga we are creating capacity for MTG’s future channel expansion, not just in the Baltics.”
“We chose Riga as there is a well established fibre infrastructure as well as a teleport in the Latvian capital. The proximity to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe is also important, as are the strong language skills in the country.“
