Reality SVOD hayu Continues to Expand Footprint

NBCUniversal International’s reality SVOD service hayu is rolling out in Norway, to be followed by launches in Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

Launching first with Norway’s TV 2 in Q4 2017, the expansion will extend hayu beyond the U.K., Ireland and Australia. The service will extend its reach to seven countries by the end of 2017.

“Launching in Norway is a key milestone for hayu and the beginning of our international expansion plans,” commented Hendrik McDermott, the senior VP of branded on-demand at NBCUniversal. “We have a dual goal of growing reach and distribution via both territory expansion and increasing our presence in existing markets via innovative partnerships. This latest development sees us establishing hayu across the Nordics beginning in Norway with TV 2, our flagship partner, with whom we are delighted to introduce the service to a whole new community of reality fans.”

Nina Lorgen Flemmen, director of acquisition, said: “The partnership with hayu is of key importance for TV 2’s strategic positioning in a very competitive environment for streaming. The reality genre has a very clear target group and this content has been underserved in the online marketplace.”

Kine Tveito Lundefaret, head of content at TV 2 Sumo, added: “We are thrilled to offer hayu to our TV 2 Sumo subscribers as part of the entertainment package, and feel very excited about taking a unique position in Norway on unscripted content. We already have great experience at TV 2 Sumo with popular reality content and are confident this will be a great progression for us.”