Viaplay Sets U.K., German Launch Plans

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group) has unveiled new expansion plans for its streaming service Viaplay, adding the U.K., Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland to its footprint over the next two years.

Viaplay will arrive in the U.K. in the second half of 2022 before landing in Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2023. By then, the streamer will have expanded its reach to 16 countries, up from the previous target of 15. It has also upped its subs forecast from 10.5 million by the end of 2025 to 12 million, half of which will be outside of its core Nordic footprint.

The new expansion plan comes on the heels of recent launches in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. It soon arrives in the U.S. and the Netherlands.

Anders Jensen, NENT Group’s president and CEO, commented, “We have stepped up the pace and scale of Viaplay’s international expansion. We have acquired virtually all of the international sports rights that we targeted and for multiple cycles in several cases; added one more market to our rollout ambition; signed innovative partnership agreements; and raised the bar when it comes to our investments in original content. As a result, we are increasing our subscriber and revenue growth targets, as well as our target profitability levels. We are investing more short term to create even higher long-term returns due to the considerable operating leverage that this creates. We are investing in this growth right now, in order to capitalize on the opportunity created as the shift to streaming video consumption continues to accelerate, and demand for high quality and locally relevant stories increases.”

Jensen added, “Viaplay is a proven success story, with a unique content offering and one of the world’s most flexible and scalable technology platforms. Viaplay is already our largest revenue generator and will already account for more than half of the group’s revenues in a couple of years’ time. We aim to be the most diverse and inclusive storyteller with our amazing range of original, acquired, local and live content that offers something special for everyone. And we take an open approach to partnering that ensures Viaplay is available as broadly as possible. This is a unique value creation story.”

The lineup in the U.K., Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland will consist of Nordic, local and international series, films, documentaries and kids’ content, both original and acquired.