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Television · Finland

MTV Urheilu

The sport brand of MTV Oy, the commercial broadcaster founded in 1957 as Oy Mainos-TV-Reklam Ab and, per its own history, owned by Schibsted since 1 July 2025.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
CompanyMTV Oy, per the copyright line on mtv.fi
Owner as stated“MTV:n omistaa Schibsted”; the company's history dates MTV becoming part of Schibsted to 1 July 2025
Founding as stated“Oy Mainos-TV-Reklam Ab perustettiin 29.4.1957”, per MTV's own history page
Channels namedMTV Katsomo, MTV3, MTV Sub, MTV Ava, MTV Uutiset and MTV Urheilu, per the company site
Staff as stated“lähes 400 asiantuntijaa”, per MTV's company description page
Sport locationmtvuutiset.fi/urheilu, a path of the news domain mtvuutiset.fi

What is MTV Urheilu?

MTV Urheilu is the sport brand of MTV Oy, the Finnish commercial broadcaster. Its written sport coverage sits on a path of the news domain, mtvuutiset.fi/urheilu.[1] The consumer site mtv.fi carries the copyright line “© 2026 MTV Oy” and presents the streaming service MTV Katsomo with the line “Urheilua niin, että tuntuu.”[2]

MTV's company site states: “MTV:n omistaa Schibsted.” It names among the company's services MTV Katsomo, MTV3, MTV Sub, MTV Ava, MTV Uutiset and MTV Urheilu, together with MTV's pay-television channels.[3] The site describes MTV as “Suomen johtava kaupallinen tv- ja suoratoistopalveluyhtiö”; that is the company's description of itself.[3] The company's description page adds that “MTV on osa Schibstediä”. It states that MTV employs almost 400 specialists, and thousands more through production companies and partners.[9]

MTV's history page gives the ownership chain with dates. It records: “Bonnierista tuli MTV:n omistaja vuonna 2007.” It records Telia Company as owner from December 2019, and: “1.7.2025 MTV:stä tuli osa Schibstediä – yhtä Pohjoismaiden johtavaa mediayhtiötä.”[4] On the build date of 24 September 2026, that is the most recent ownership change the company records.

What does MTV Urheilu cover?

When retrieved on 24 September 2026, the mtvuutiset.fi sport page led with volleyball European Championship coverage. The headlines read “Suomi jysäytti sensaation! Maailmanmestari Italia nurin” and “Italiassa järkytyttiin Suomen EM-sensaatiosta”.[1] The same page carried domestic ice hockey from the top league, with items on HIFK, SaiPa and Ässät, and a comment piece on the national volleyball team.[1]

The live-sport side sits on MTV Katsomo, which the consumer site presents under the line “Urheilua niin, että tuntuu. Koko Suomen kokoisessa katsomossa on paikka jokaiselle.”[2] Katsomo's sport page, as retrieved on 24 September 2026, reads: “Katso huippu-urheilua, kuten Liigaa, Mestarien liigaa, MM-rallia ja monia muita lajeja.” It names Liiga ice hockey, the UEFA Champions League and the World Rally Championship, without giving rights terms or end dates.[8] MTV's history page records: “Uusi MTV Katsomo julkaistiin 10.10.2023.”[4] The company's press-release page loads only with scripts. No list of MTV's sports rights with terms and expiry dates could be retrieved, so no rights term is asserted here.

News and sport share a newsroom brand. The history page dates MTV's main evening news programmes to the premiere of Kymmenen Uutiset on 1 September 1981 and of Seitsemän Uutiset on 3 September 1990.[4]

How large is MTV Urheilu's audience?

Television viewing in Finland is measured by Finnpanel's TV-mittaritutkimus. Finnpanel's release on the television year 2025, published on 4 February 2026, lists the year's most-watched programmes for the whole population aged over three, with channel and date.[5]

Its one sport broadcast is “Jääkiekon MM: Suomi–Ruotsi”, the IIHF World Championship game between Finland and Sweden, shown on “MTV3, Urheilu 1” on 12 May 2025, with 1,106,000 viewers. It ranks fifth in the release's table. That is one broadcast's reading, not a season average.[5]

No audited online audience figure for mtvuutiset.fi/urheilu could be retrieved. The weekly FIAM list published by Media Metrics Finland loads only with scripts. MTV's description page publishes no audience figure. It describes MTV as “mainosmediana tavoittavin Total TV -toimija (tv- ja videomainonta yhdessä) Suomessa sekä valtakunnallisesti että 17 näkyvyysalueella”. That is a claim about MTV as an advertising medium, and the page names no measuring body or period for it.[9]

Since when has MTV Urheilu existed?

MTV's history page states that “Oy Mainos-TV-Reklam Ab perustettiin 29.4.1957”, and that it was among the first commercial television companies in Europe.[4] The company site separately says that MTV has been part of viewers' lives for 69 years.[3] Neither page gives a launch date for the MTV Urheilu brand, and none is given here.

The history page dates the MTV3 channel to 1 January 1993 and the company's online video service, first called Netti-tv, to 2002.[4] These are the company's own dates. No independent source for them was retrieved.

Why does MTV Urheilu matter in Finland's sport?

MTV's sport brand spans free-to-air television, a subscription streaming service and a news site.[3] Reporters Without Borders describes Finland's market as including, beside Yle, “some privately owned domestic broadcasters”.[6]

MTV's history page records that MTV became part of Schibsted on 1 July 2025, and calls Schibsted one of the leading Nordic media companies.[4] The trade site Broadband TV News reported on 1 July 2025 that Telia Company had completed the sale of its TV & Media business to Schibsted, and that Sweden's TV4 and Finland's MTV had new owners.[7] Reporters Without Borders notes, of Finnish outlets generally, that they “are subject to greater media concentration, without any specific regulation”.[6]

References

  1. MTV Uutiset — urheilu section (headlines carried on 24 September 2026). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  2. MTV — mtv.fi home page (MTV Katsomo; © 2026 MTV Oy). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  3. MTV — company site mtvyritys.fi (owner Schibsted; channels and services; self-description). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  4. MTV — Historia (Mainos-TV 29.4.1957; MTV3 1993; Bonnier 2007; Telia 2019; Schibsted from 1 July 2025; MTV Katsomo 10 October 2023). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  5. Finnpanel — TV-vuosi2025: Linnan juhlat ja Euroviisut kokosivat suomalaiset tv:n ääreen (release, 4 February 2026; most-watched programmes of 2025 with channel and date). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  6. Reporters Without Borders — 2026 World Press Freedom Index, Finland (rank 6 of 180; score 86.22; media landscape and economic context). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  7. Broadband TV News — Telia Company completes divestment of TV & Media (1 July 2025; sale to Schibsted; TV4 and MTV). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  8. MTV Katsomo — Urheilu page (Liiga, Mestarien liiga and MM-ralli named; retrieved 24 September 2026). Accessed 2026-09-24.
  9. MTV — Kuvaus (company description: channels and services, part of Schibsted, almost 400 staff, Total TV claim). Accessed 2026-09-24.