Urheilukanava

Urheilukanava was a Finnish sports television channel that broadcast free-to-air in most cable networks and in the terrestrial digital network. It was launched by Suomen Urheilutelevisio Oy, which received a nationwide digital television license in 2000. The channel began broadcasting on 27 August 2001 at 15:00. It was owned by Sanoma Entertainment, part of the Sanoma Group. Initially Sanoma Entertainment held 17.55% of the company, but on 3 August 2007 it became the majority owner after acquiring Sportup Finland Oy, which owned 49.9% of Suomen Urheilutelevisio Oy's shares. In June 2009, Sanoma Entertainment bought the remaining shares of Suomen Urheilutelevisio. The channel's CEO was Hans Edin, who was also a business director at Sanoma Television Oy / Nelonen Media. Urheilukanava offered a wide range of sports, including football, pesäpallo, volleyball, ice hockey (Mestis and Swiss league), floorball, athletics, golf, orienteering, motorsport, and tennis. In football, it showed matches from the German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Brazilian, Swedish, and Finnish top leagues. The main football commentator was Tuomas Virkkunen, with others such as Tero Karhu and Pepe Jürgens. The channel also broadcast horse racing with a three-part Ravi-TV program. On 7 December 2009, Viasat and Nelonen Media announced a cooperation agreement, and from 1 February 2010, Urheilukanava was renamed Nelonen Sport. Its pay-TV sister channel, Urheilu+kanava, became Nelonen Sport Pro. From the beginning of 2011, Nelonen Sport (the old Urheilukanava) became the pay channel Nelonen Pro 2, and Nelonen Sport Pro (the old Urheilu+kanava) became Nelonen Pro 1. The channel set viewer records, including 135,000 viewers for a Barcelona–Real Madrid match on 23 December 2007, and an average of 224,000 (peak 266,000) for a decisive SM-liiga qualifier between Vaasan Sport and Porin Ässät on 11 April 2009.

Urheilukanava was established by Suomen Urheilutelevisio Oy, which was granted a nationwide digital television license in 2000. The channel commenced broadcasting on 27 August 2001 at 15:00. It was initially a free-to-air channel available in most cable networks and in the terrestrial digital network. In terms of ownership, Sanoma Entertainment initially held 17.55% of the company. On 3 August 2007, Sanoma Entertainment acquired Sportup Finland Oy, which owned 49.9% of Suomen Urheilutelevisio Oy's shares, thus becoming the majority owner. In June 2009, Sanoma Entertainment purchased the remaining shares of Suomen Urheilutelevisio, gaining full ownership. The channel's CEO was Hans Edin, who also served as a business director at Sanoma Television Oy / Nelonen Media. On 7 December 2009, Viasat and Nelonen Media announced a cooperation agreement. As a result, from 1 February 2010, Urheilukanava was renamed Nelonen Sport, and its pay-TV sister channel Urheilu+kanava became Nelonen Sport Pro. From the beginning of 2011, Nelonen Sport (the former Urheilukanava) was converted into a pay channel named Nelonen Pro 2, while Nelonen Sport Pro (the former Urheilu+kanava) became Nelonen Pro 1. The channel was known for its diverse sports programming and set viewer records, such as 135,000 viewers for a Barcelona–Real Madrid match on 23 December 2007, and an average of 224,000 viewers (peak 266,000) for a decisive SM-liiga qualifier between Vaasan Sport and Porin Ässät on 11 April 2009.

• Suomen Urheilutelevisio Oy receives nationwide digital television license

• Urheilukanava begins broadcasting at 15:00

• Sanoma Entertainment becomes majority owner after acquiring Sportup Finland Oy

• Sanoma Entertainment buys remaining shares of Suomen Urheilutelevisio

• Viasat and Nelonen Media announce cooperation agreement

• Urheilukanava renamed Nelonen Sport; Urheilu+kanava becomes Nelonen Sport Pro

• Nelonen Sport becomes pay channel Nelonen Pro 2; Nelonen Sport Pro becomes Nelonen Pro 1

Free-to-air sports channel offering a wide variety of sports to Finnish audiences.

• Urheilukanava TV channel

  Free-to-air sports channel

• Urheiluteksti

  Text-TV service; replaced by TekstiNelonen on 1 May 2009

• Urheilu+kanava

  Pay-TV sister channel; later Nelonen Sport Pro

1. 1Urheilukanava - Wikipedia (Finnish)fi.wikipedia.org
2. 2Urheilukanava - Wikidatawikidata.org