Sports Channel to start pay-TV operations in Finland as part of the PlusTV package (28.05.2007)

Press release May 28, 2007

The partnership between PlusTV and the Sports Channel will make the new high-quality SPORTS+CHANNEL available to Finnish terrestrial households starting from June 3. The new channel will automatically become part of PlusTV's basic package for all the approximately 150,000 PlusTV’s current customers and new subscribers of PlusTV’s pay-TV service. The channel goes on the air on Sunday night, June 3, with a live broadcast of a match of the Brazilian Football League at 10.00 pm on channel number 12. The opening match is between Santos and the Corinthians. Pelé, who is considered the greatest football player of all time, also played for the legendary Santos team.

During the summer the viewer can enjoy on SPORTS+CHANNEL live broadcasts for example of the finals of the NBA professional basketball league, regular season games and play-offs of the women’s professional basketball league WNBA, not to mention the All Star event. The channel also shows NASCAR Auto Races, matches of the Beach Volley European tour, ATP tennis, Brazilian Football League matches and IAAF Grand Prix competitions. In addition, on two weeknights (Tuesdays and Thursdays) the channel features an up-to-date news service that will expand to six days a week in the early autumn. The Motorsport Evening, broadcasted on Wednesdays, is a high-quality round up of Finnish and international motor sports produced in Finland and hosted by Erkki Vanhanen.

Football fans are in for a real treat in August with the channel’s football weekends, when in addition to the matches of the Brazilian Football League, the programming includes the top matches of the Spanish Football League and the Spanish Cup, Copa del Rey. Negotiations are underway to obtain broadcasting rights to other leagues as well.

The SPORTS+CHANNEL broadcasts programs for sports fans every evening starting at 7.00 pm without commercial breaks.

“We are happy to have added a new, high-quality channel specialising in sports to our selection of channels. The SPORTS+CHANNEL complements our existing channel package very well. Our customers who watch the live broadcasts of Formula 1 racing on MTV3 MAX have hoped for more high-quality sports programming,” says Vesa Mars, Managing Director of PlusTV.

PlusTV started to offer the pay-TV package to customers in November 2006. Before the launch of the SPORTS+CHANNEL, PlusTV's has offered 3 different channels for each member of a family: MTV3 MAX, Subtv Film and Subtv Juniori. PlusTV’s service will be further expanded in the beginning of September when Finland switches fully to digital television broadcasts.

“Co-operation with PlusTV is a good choice for us. We get a viewer base of nearly 150,000 households for the new channel right from the first day. The Sports Channel has developed and supplemented its programming in 2007, and co-operation with PlusTV is a natural way to continue this trend. Now the Sports Channel can offer viewers top programming on two channels,” says Timo Hakala, Managing Director of the Sports Channel.

PlusTV's pay-TV card can be purchased form R-kiosks and domestic appliance chain stores such as Expert, Gigantti, Markantalo, Musta Pörssi, Tekniset and Veikon Kone, or by electronic commerce on PlusTV’s Web pages www.plustv.fi.

PlusTV’s customer service is available by calling +358 10 309 8008, from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm on weekdays, and 10:00 am – 4:00 pm on Saturdays. PlusTV's pay-TV service can also be ordered directly from the customer service.

PlusTV, Vesa Mars, Managing Director, tel. +358 50 3150 206

Sports Channel, Kimmo Tolonen, Deputy Managing Director, tel. +358 10 300 7012

Background material and photographs are available on PlusTV’s Internet pages www.plustv.fi

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PlusTV is a Finnish provider of pay-TV services. Its goal is to create a digital channel package that is made up of the most popular Finnish and foreign TV channels. PlusTV already has nearly 150,000 pay-TV customers. Vesa Mars is the Managing Director of PlusTV, and Arne Wessberg is Chairman of the Board. The company is financed by the American investment company Baker Capital and the Nordic investment company Provider Venture Partners AB.

Urheilutelevisio Oy is a broadcaster specialising in TV sports. Its free channel the Sports Channel is available to over four million Finns in 1.9 million households. The SPORTS+CHANNEL is an additional pay-TV service of the Sports Channel that offers viewers the opportunity to follow a wider selection of high-quality sports programmes. Suomen Urheilutelevisio is owned by SportUp Finland Oy, SWelcom Oy, MTV Oy, Veikkaus Oy, Suomen Liikunta ja Urheilu ry and Suomen Hippos ry.