Banijay Rights Signs Package Deal with Viaplay for the U.S.

Banijay Rights has licensed more than a dozen of its scripted titles to Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), ahead of the launch of its Viaplay streaming service in the U.S.

The deal provides Viaplay subscribers in the U.S. access to more than 250 hours of Banijay Rights’ Nordic drama series, including A Class Apart, set at Sweden’s top-ranked boarding high school, which is home to a secret society for the most affluent students: the Zebra Club.

Also part of the pact, Countrymen sees four men with dubious plans move to a farm in the rural Norwegian countryside where, more or less against their will, they end up as the founders of Norway’s first halal cheesemaking business.

Both A Class Apart and Countrymen will be premieres in the North American market.

Further titles include two seasons of Jarowskij thriller Black Lake and Dystopia, seasons one to five of the crime drama Gåsmamman, the first two seasons of the Swedish science-fiction drama Real Humans, seasons one to six of Solsidan, The Councilman and seasons one to nine of The Sandhamn Murders. Viaplay in the U.S. will also show the first two seasons of the Swedish crime hit Wallander and seasons one and two of Wallander UK, alongside Wisting, the first two seasons of The Third Eye and The Truth Will Out.

Matt Creasey, executive VP of sales, acquisitions and co-productions, excluding EMEA, at Banijay Rights, said: “Our catalog contains a stunning range of premium stand-out Nordic titles including Norwegian sensation Countrymen and Swedish drama A Class Apart, and we are thrilled to be working with NENT Group to ensure this package deal will become a cornerstone of Viaplay’s launch in the U.S.”