Proventus became a major shareholder in the leading commercial broadcasters TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland in 2005. To manage these investments, a holding company, Nordic Broadcasting, was set up. In March 2007, Proventus ceased to be a shareholder through a sale of its 50% holding to Swedish media group Bonnier. During 2007-2009, Proventus continued its active role as a financial partner by extending a subordinated loan to Nordic Broadcasting.

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 the owner of MTV via the holding company Nordic Broadcasting. In 2006, TV4 was fully incorporated in Nordic Broadcasting through the privatisation initiated by Bonnier and Proventus.

In 2004, when Proventus started to take an interest in the broadcasting market, new technology and political change had transformed the television world. New technology had made possible the proliferation of satellite and cable channels, and was now responsible for the impending digitalization of terrestrial broadcasting. Regulatroy change meant that the marketplace was shifting equally radically. The fragmentation caused by these changes formed one part of the picture. In European markets, state broadcasters no longer shared their monopoly with a single commercial channel. Entire countries no longer watched the same programme at the same time. The other part of the picture was the increasing interactivity and mobility of content. The result was 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 experienced it.

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

Licensed by the state in exchange for strict controls about content, including the provision of regional programming and news, and restraint on the quantity of advertising. TV4 and MTV3 was already under pressure from the unregulated satellite stations. The situation would only become more competitive with the arrival of more channels, as digitilization would give room for more channels when the analogue signal were to be switched off in both Sweden and Finland in 2008.

For Proventus, the only way to differentiate TV4 and MTV3 from the pure entertainment channels distributed by satellite was to emphasise quality, and continue to develop an approach to programming that had a broader appeal. It would also be necessary to exploit the strength of the respective brands and its audience base to develop additional sources of income.

To be competitive in the long run would also require a more efficient operatin and being able to make better use of resources to allow investments in stronger programming. During the first years of Proventus' involvment in the respective companies, an number of new niche channels (factual, film, etc.) were launched, exploring the pay-TV business, and also putting its content to work in a variety of different formats.

In the long-term Proventus' belief was that TV4 and MTV3, who represent quality positions in two small language markets, would need to further increase cross-Nordic cooperation to prosper and grow.

TV4

www.tv4.se

TV4 was and continues to be the largest commercial Nordic Television company and had in 2005 revenue totalling SEK 2,594 million. The flag ship channel, TV4, is the Swedish market leader with 23.6 per cent share of viewing in 2005. In January 2005, Proventus became one of the largest owners in TV4 and took an active role in the change of TV4 with the aim to defend and strengthen its market leadership.

MTV Oy

www.mtv3.fi

MTV was and 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 companty 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.