THE BAR SOLD TO ITALY Strix Television's continues its sales success for the Swedish program format The Bar. The totally interactive docusoap will now also be produced for Mediaset Group in Italy. The format has already been sold to Germany, Portugal and Australia. "This is further proof of the global strength of this format, which is created both for TV and the Internet," says Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of Modern Times Group MTG AB. In Italy, the format is sold to Reti Televisive Italiane Spa, a company belonging to Mediaset Group, which will produce at least 72 episodes. This media group includes the channels Italia 1, Canale 5, and Rete 4. As of yet, it has not been decided which of these three national Italian channels will air the format. Strix Television previously consulted with Italia 1 in the Survivor format Expedition: Robinson, the international hit docusoap that Strix was first in the world to produce. The Bar is the first Swedish totally interactive docusoap. It is successful both on TV3 in Sweden and TV3 Norway and on the Swedish and Norwegian parts of the Internet portal Everday.com. In the new year, it will also be launched on TV3 in Denmark and on Danish Everyday.com. In Germany, the sale include more than just the rights to the format; Strix will also produce the show. The Bar will be aired by RTL, Europe's largest commercial TV channel. Pearson Television Worldwide Production, a leading global TV production group, has purchased the format for Australia and Portugal. "The Bar continues to attract huge interest from both TV channels and production companies on the global TV market," says Anna Bråkenhielm, president of Strix Television. The participants struggle to run The Bar in an authentic restaurant. They are followed 24 hours a day by cameras, located both in The Bar and in the apartment they all share. Everything that happens can be viewed directly on the Internet. A 30- minute summary is aired each weekday on TV. Once a week, an hour-long episode is aired live, in which the TV and web viewers vote to eliminate one of the participants. The last participant left at the end of the season will win SEK 1,000,000. Strix Television is the most successful production company in the Modern Studios business area of Modern Times Group MTG AB containing all MTG companies that produce or distribute content. For further information, visit www.mtg.se, send an e-mail to info@sharedvalue.net, or contact: Hans-Holger Albrecht, CEO MTG, +46-8-562 000 50 Modern Times Group MTG AB has seven business areas: Viasat Broadcasting (free and pay TV comprising 18 television channels in eight countries), Radio (seven networks in five countries), New Media (the Everyday interactive TV portal, Internet portal, and teletext services), Publishing (financial news and media services, other magazine and book publishing), Modern Interactive (traditional home shopping, e-commerce, and logistics), SDI Media (subtitling and dubbing services), and Modern Studios (content production and film library). Modern Times Group MTG AB's class A and B shares are listed on the OM Stockholm Exchange's O list (symbols: MTGA and MTGB) and on the Nasdaq National Market in New York (symbol: MTGNY). ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/12/20001212BIT01050/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/12/20001212BIT01050/bit0002.pdf