Viasat Broadcasating, radio and publishing are the top performing business areas in Modern Times Group’s third quarter results, just released. Net sales across the Swedish-based company increased from SKr2,613 million (Euro305 million) to SKr3,270 million. Operating income rose by SKr171 million to SKr102 million.

The number of Viasat cards distributed now stands at 1.062 million. This covers more or less every satellite household in the Nordic region. The smart card allows access to the popular entertainment channel TV3, on which Viasat continues to ratchet up the annual handling fee charged to cardholders. The card total also includes those who access the service via CATV headends and SMATV systems.

The Viasat Gold package, the top tier available to DTH satellite subscribers, reported a 40 per cent increase on 1998. The Viasat pay-TV division reported sales of SKr143 million compared to SKr574 million in the same period in 1998.

Pay-TV channel TV1000 had 344,000 subscribers (on cable and satellite) as of September 30, compared to 267,000 in 1998. The inclusion of TV1000 as part of the Viasat Gold package has clearly helped to turn around the once ailing pay-TV channel. DTH sales are acting as a driver while cable subscriptions are holding steady. Despite the turnaround in subscription levels, TV1000 continues to be a loss maker. Under a prior arrangement with MTG’s former owner Kinnevik (it has since been divested) MTG is responsible for SKr58 million of the channel’s losses, though overall the pay-TV division is in profit.