New Territories For MUTV

In the wake of winning a 20th English league title, Manchester United has today announced the extension of its dedicated TV channel, MUTV.

The three deals will see the channel team up with TV stations SkyNet and TV2 Norway, which for the first time will broadcast MUTV content to fans in Myanmar and Norway respectively, as well an extension of its already-successful partnership with the Icelandic TV station 365.

With some 23 million viewers tuning into a United game within the first 7 months of last season, SkyNet is confident MUTV will be popular in the football-fanatical country. Established in 2010, the pay TV platform broadcasts 84 channels including five HD channels and 20 in-house package channels. These consist of a mix of programme genres, with the station’s five sports channels establishing it as the leading football broadcaster.

Manchester United has a long history of strong support in Norway. This new partnership with TV2 Norway, one of the country’s biggest and most well-known TV stations, will be welcome news to the club’s official Scandinavian supporters’ club, which boasts more members than any other official branch in the world.

365 is Iceland’s largest private media corporation, broadcasting six TV stations as well as owning radio stations, a national newspaper, magazines and an online news website. The company currently has 40% market share of the Icelandic Pay TV market. 365 already broadcasts MUTV content to fans via its popular Stod 2 Sport channel, which can be purchased as part of a larger pay to view package. The extension of its partnership with Manchester United will allow the channel to continue showing MUTV footage to the club’s Icelandic followers for the next two years.

Manchester United commercial director Richard Arnold comments: “Manchester United is fortunate enough to have 659 million followers around the globe and the creation of agreements, like the ones we have with SkyNet, TV2 and 365, allows us to bring them closer to the club they love. The new agreements mean that MUTV now has 22 international broadcast partners, covering 56 territories worldwide including parts of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Through our partnerships, tens of millions of people now have access to MUTV content.

“The dedicated channel already creates some unique and distinctive content and, with the development of our network of broadcast partners, we are able to invest in this further. By teaming up with reputable media houses like SkyNet, TV2 and 365 we can ensure that this content is delivered in right way, reaching key audiences.”