Viasat


Viasat is a satellite and pay television brand, co-owned by the Swedish media group Nordic Entertainment Group in the Nordic countries, Sony Pictures Television in Hungary, and by Viasat World internationally. Founded in Sweden in 1991, Viasat has previously been owned by Modern Times Group. The channels of both companies are broadcast from London.

Satellite platforms

The Viasat signals can be received from the Astra 4A and SES-5 satellites at 4.8°E with any DVB-S receiver equipped with a NDS VideoGuard descrambling module.
Viasat’s main competitor on DBS distribution in the Nordic countries is Canal Digital.
Viasat does not have a platform of their own outside the Nordic and Baltic countries, so they have to rely on third party distributors in Eastern and Central Europe.
In May 2016, MTG announced the launch of Viasat Ultra HD, the first ultra-high-definition television channel in the Nordic region and its first UHD Sports channel. The channel will feature selected live sport events especially produced in Ultra HD and launch in the autumn in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland via SES-5. Viasat will also be launching an Ultra HD set-top box from Samsung and a TV-module to enable existing UHD TVs to display the channel.

TV channels

Nordic countries

The Nordic Viasat-branded operations are owned by NENT. With the exception of Viasat 4 in Norway, the brand is no longer used for the advertising-funded and free-to-air channels of NENT.

V Film and V Series

V Film and V Series channels are common for the four Nordic markets.
The available sports television channels differ across the Nordic markets due to the varying broadcasting rights. In Norway and Denmark, most of the NENT-owned sports channels use the brands Viasport and TV3 respectively.
Owned by Viasat World.
Pay channels:
Owned by Sony Pictures Television.
Free channels:
In addition to their own channels, Viasat carry several third-party channels on their platform.

Country specific

Sweden:
Denmark:
Norway:
Slovakia:
Lithuania:

World record

The live 3D broadcast of the 2011 UEFA Champions League final match between Manchester United and Barcelona was provided by Viasat in 3D format in Gothenburg. The football match was broadcast on EKTA screen. This Ukrainian produced 3D LED TV made The Guinness Book of World Records.