20/08/2010

The Scandinavian based Millennium Media Group (MMG) – which controls 13 niche TV channels, theatrical distribution company NonStop Entertainment, sales outfit NonStop Sales and leading subtitling group Prime Text International – has been acquired by Time Warner subsidiary Turner Broadcasting Europe.

The new group brings together the two companies’ activities, staff and operations in the Nordic region. It will retain the name MMG and will be led by founding partners CG Anderson and Ignas Scheynius. The majority of the staff will be based in Stockholm, while other employees will work from Turner’s existing facilities in Copenhagen and London.

The new channel portfolio will include MMG’s 13 locally developed entertainment and movie channels available in 53 countries, plus Turner’s established brands such as CNN International, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies. MMG’s other content businesses under the NonStop brand and PrimeText International will benefit from the merger by having greater financial muscle.

“Turner has brands, content and know how that can only improve the services we provide,” commented MMG co-founder Anderson. The merger still needs approval from Swedish media regulator RTW and the Norwegian competition authorities before finalisation.

NonStop Entertainment acquires around 20 quality films (many of European origin) for the theatrical market plus another 20 for direct DVD distribution across the Nordic and Baltic region each year. NonStop Sales also handles many European titles for world distribution. Among the company’s latest pick-ups is Venice Film Festival competition entry Essential Killing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jerzy Skolimowski
film profile] by Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski, starring Vincent Gallo. NonStop will handle sales on the Polish/Norwegian/Irish/Hungarian co-production in the Nordic countries except Norway.