Viaplay Group and Dutch media company Talpa Network have agreed a linear TV partnership in the Netherlands. Starting April 5th, Talpa Network’s SBS9 linear TV channel will be rebranded as Viaplay TV, and will show selected content from the Viaplay streaming service’s portfolio of sports.Viaplay TV’s first live broadcast will be the second free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, featuring superstar Dutch driver Max Verstappen. April’s schedule includes live Premier League football, highlights from the Chinese Grand Prix and live PDC Premier League Darts in Rotterdam headlined by three-time World Champion Michael van Gerwen.In addition to selected live sports and reruns from Viaplay, Viaplay TV will feature Dutch and international series and films from Talpa Network’s extensive entertainment offering. Viaplay TV will premiere exclusive sports documentaries such as the upcoming three-part series Max Verstappen – Off the Beaten Track. The channel is available to audiences across the Netherlands through all major TV distributors.Viaplay Group and Talpa Network will share the revenues from the partnership. All Viaplay sports content shown on Viaplay TV will remain available in full on Viaplay.Peter Nørrelund, Viaplay Group EVP and Chief Sports & Business Development Officer, commented: “Talpa Network is a well-established Dutch player with outstanding reach. This partnership will showcase Viaplay’s premium sports portfolio, which is the most attractive and relevant anywhere in the Netherlands, to a broad audience and open up new revenue opportunities. With the new Formula 1 season running at full speed, and a great year of sport ahead, the timing couldn’t be better for Dutch fans.”Joost Brakel, CEO, Talpa Network, added: “We are fully committed to our open media strategy and this means that we constantly look in the market for opportunities to collaborate with attractive partners. The partnership with Viaplay Group is illustrative of this, just as we have previously entered into successful alliances with RetailMedia.One and BBC First. We are pleased to be able to offer these immensely popular sports to our viewers.”
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