Modern Times Group


TBI Digital: Year in Review

Twenty-sixteen was bookended by subscription VOD services taking their limited offers and launching them globally around the world – Netflix shocked the world by switching on in a total of 200 territories in January and Amazon Prime Video ended the year by doing the same (albeit after 12 months of flat-out denials). The impact for […]

Nordic drama veterans found Fire Monkey

Two of Scandinavian drama’s biggest-name producers, Roope Lehtinen and Mikko Pöllä, have joined forces to found a scripted development company. Fire Monkey is billed as “an independent drama development and showrunning company serving broadcasters and studios in the Nordics and internationally”. As Nice Entertainment Group co-founder Lehtinen told TBI earlier this month, the company will […]

MTG targets US digital with new hire

Modern Times Group has appointed Digital Artists Entertainment boss Scott Rupp to develop the presence of its MTGx digital arm in the US. Rupp will be tasked with developing US opportunities for MTGx’s portfolio, expanding the company’s international network and sourcing new digital investments. Rupp has 20 years experience in digital media and entertainment and […]

DRG hires Sky Vision, Zodiak sales execs

Nice Entertainment Group distributor DRG has brought on sales executives from Sky Vision and Zodiak Rights following an uptick in turnover. Amity Easter Utley is exiting Sky-owned sales company Sky Vision to take on distribution responsibilities for DRG in Spain and Portugal, while Jo Halstead is leaving Banijay Group’s Zodiak to oversee Japan, Southeast Asia, […]

Moskito names new CEO after founder exits

Nice Entertainment’s Finnish prodco, Moskito Television, has named a new chief executive after the founder and previous CEO, Roope Lehtinen, announced his exit. Riina Kullas has been upped to the top job at the formats- and drama-focused prodco, effective Tuesday (November 1), having previously been head of entertainment. Lehtinen (pictured) is exiting to create what […]

Netflix doesn’t scare local CEE players

Netflix is unlikely to make significant headway in most markets in central and Eastern Europe without making significant and probably uneconomic investments in local content, according to industry sources. Despite the global SVOD player’s decision to localise its service in Poland, there is still a lot of scepticism about the viability of the service in […]

SVOD net gets porn drama after Swedish Dicks

Scandinavian subscription video-on-demand service Viaplay’s latest original will be a ten-part drama about a film director who takes a job in the porn industry. The commission of Veni Vidi Vici comes just over a month after Viaplay debuted its first original, the Lionsgate-sold Swedish Dicks, which has been given a second season. The new series […]

Ronnigen returns as TV2 Norway chief exits

Trygve Rønningen is returning to Norwegian commercial broadcaster TV2 to replace Trond Kvernstrøm as channel director. Rønningen began his career at the Modern Times Group-owned network, but left 16 years ago. He has since held programme director roles at media Norwegian media firm P4 and Scandinavian prodco Mastiff, and was last year appointed as MTG’s […]

Brexit strategies

The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union is one of the most seismic changes for international television in living memory. Jesse Whittock asks what it means for the industry. The UK has always been a leader in international production and distribution. It is credited, among other things, with helping to develop and fine-tune […]

MTV Finland adds Discovery, Viasat execs in shake-up

Bonnier Broadcasting-owned Finnish commercial broadcaster MTV’s CEO Jarkko Nordlund has named a new management team, with Discovery’s Sami Vikback taking charge of the group’s advertising business and Viasat’s Johannes Leppännen becoming head of pay TV. Nordlund (pictured) has hired Vikback from Discovery Networks Sweden, where had the role of chief revenueofficer, to take charge of […]