MTV

MTV is the largest Finnish television company and dominates the Finnish television market with two thirds of commercial share of viewing (2005). MTV’s television operations date back to 1957 when it launched Europe’s third commercial channel. By 2005, the company had revenue of EUR 195 million and was operating the largest and the fifth largest Finnish television channels (MTV3 with 34.8 per cent share of total viewing and Subtv, 5.9 per cent) as well as two radio channels and Finland’s most visited internet portal.  

In December 2004, Proventus acquired a 15 per cent ownership stake in Alma Media, a large Finnish media company that apart from the broadcasting operations also included newspaper publishing, business information and media services. During 2005, Proventus and partner Bonnier & Bonnier AB initiated a split of Alma Media. After the transaction Proventus was 50 per cent owner of MTV via the holding company Nordic Broadcasting. In March 2007 Proventus ceased to be a shareholder but continues its active role as a financial partner by extending a subordinated loan to bolster the group's long-term competitiveness in the future media arena.

Between them, new technology and political change have transformed the television world. New technology has already made possible the proliferation of satellite and cable channels, and is now responsible for the impending digitalization of terrestrial broadcasting. In Finland, digitalization will be a fact already in 2007 when the analogue signal is switched off for good. Regulatory change means that the marketplace is shifting equally radically. The fragmentation caused by these changes forms one part of the picture. In European markets, state broadcasters no longer share their monopoly with a single commercial channel. Entire countries no longer watch the same programme at the same time. The other part of the picture is the increasing interactivity and mobility of content. The result is not just a much wider assortment of viewing options, but also a fundamental change to the nature of the product as both the viewer and the potential advertiser experience it.

Television is traditionally a passive medium. But it is also increasingly taking on another form, and is creating a more active consumer. The remote control has the potential of becoming the key to a two-way process. And television content is already being delivered to laptops and cellphones. New technology allows the audience to skip the ads – and it has become more difficult to keep an audience for long periods. But it also means that advertising can become much more specific, and target individuals more efficiently.

For Proventus, the only way to differentiate MTV from the pure entertainment channels distributed by satellite is to emphasise quality, and continue to develop an approach to programming that has a broader appeal. It will also be necessary MTV to exploit the strength of its brand and to use its audience base to develop additional sources of income.

In order to be competitive in the long run, it will be necessary to become more efficient and to make better use of resources to allow MTV to invest in stronger programming.

In the long-term we believe that MTV, which represents a quality position in a small language market, will need to further increase cross-Nordic cooperation to prosper and grow.