MTV has officially terminated its distribution agreements, meaning that starting tomorrow, May 13th, MTV's free-to-air channels -- MTV3, MTV Sub, and MTV Ava -- will no longer be available as live broadcasts for Elisa's cable TV and Elisa Viihde IPTV customers. This massive blackout will affect approximately 800,000 Finnish households, representing roughly one-third of the entire country.
AfterDawn was the first media outlet in Finland to report on the termination of these distribution agreements and the looming threat of a blackout back in late February.
At the time, Elisa assured the public that it would inform customers about the situation and any potential service disruptions well in advance.
However, that promise seems to have fallen short, as the final confirmation of the live broadcast termination was delivered to customers only today, just 24 hours before the channels are set to go dark.
The timing of the blackout is particularly critical for Finnish viewers, as the Ice Hockey World Championships -- a massive annual event in the country -- are about to begin.
Sami Aalto, Vice President at Elisa, describes MTV's decision as exceptional and argues that the broadcaster is failing to fulfill its legal obligation to ensure that "nationally significant events" are available to the public as free-to-air broadcasts.
According to Aalto, a third of the Finnish population will now be cut off from live World Championship coverage right as the tournament kicks off.
Elisa states that it has distributed MTV's channels in its cable network for decades without any separate compensation between the parties, allowing MTV to keep all advertising revenue.
While the telecom operator says it was ready to continue with this long-standing model, a new agreement could not be reached despite negotiations.
On the other side of the table, MTV's CEO Johannes Leppänen highlights the financial imbalance in the industry, noting that while MTV is one of the largest investors in domestic content in Finland, the profits in the TV business lately have mostly been pocketed by telecom operators.
For consumers, the situation creates a significant technical hurdle, though several workarounds remain. Elisa Viihde customers can still record programs from these channels and start watching the recordings almost immediately after the program begins, albeit with a delay of a few minutes compared to a live broadcast.
Additionally, Elisa is offering its cable TV customers a free one-month trial of the Elisa Viihde Mini app to watch content on smart devices. Owners of older set-top boxes may also attempt to retune their devices directly via the antenna or cable network to bypass the IPTV distribution.
Despite the disruption, customers should not expect any financial compensation or refunds. Elisa has explicitly stated in its customer guidelines that the removal of live broadcasts does not grant users the right to terminate fixed-term contracts or receive price reductions.
The company justifies this by stating that the content is still technically accessible via the recording service and that the monthly cable TV fee primarily covers network maintenance and service costs rather than the rights to individual channels.
While recording services and paid MTV channels will continue for the time being, MTV has warned that these features could also be discontinued by next autumn if a new agreement is not reached.
Written by: Janne Yli-Korhonen @ 12 May 2026 3:51
