SanomaWSOY (Welho) Interim Report 1 January-30 June 2008

In January-June, SanomaWSOY (Helsinki:SWS1V) Group’s net sales increased by 3.2%, totalling EUR 1,452.8 (1,408.0) million.

SWelcom

SWelcom offers consumers entertaining experiences for television, radio, online and mobile devices. The television channel Nelonen is Finland’s third largest medium in terms of advertising sales. Welho is the country’s largest cable television company and a major provider of broadband services.

• The viewing shares of television channels increased significantly.
• Nelonen was the first TV channel in Finland to launch a free HDTV (High-Definition Television) service on Welho’s cable network.

Operational Indicators:

(thousands, 30 June)                       1-6/2008  1-6/2007 
                                           --------  --------
Number of connected households                  321       312 
Number of pay TV subscriptions                  103        70 
Number of broadband internet connections        102        93

In June, Nelonen was the first TV channel in Finland to launch a free HDTV service on Welho’s cable network. The launch of Nelonen HD allows viewers to enjoy programming in higher definition and quality. Nelonen Media’s pay TV operations grew and in May, KinoTV already had over 100,000 and Urheilu+kanava over 300,000 subscribers.

More: Earnings Release