Last March 1, NENT Group’s SVOD Viaplay launched in the Netherlands, confirming its eleventh market in which it is available. But there is more: the service will launch in the UK in 2H 2022, and in Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2023.
(Credit: Peter Knutson)
Filippa Wallestam, EVP and Chief Content Officer, NENT Group, explained: ‘Our combination of Viaplay Originals, Hollywood films and series, kids content and premium live sports such as Formula 1 is unique and we think it will be very attractive for the viewers in The Netherland. Our international expansion is matched by ongoing growth in the Nordic region: the goal for 2022 is to reach around 6.5 million (+60%) in all markets’.
Original content is one of the main subscribers’ drivers: ‘It is at the heart of our strategy: these stories are proven to bring viewers to our service and to keep them there. A growing number of our originals are co-productions, and we have partnerships with Hollywood majors such as MGM to produce ambitious English-language shows such as Billy the Kid and Last Light’.
And the executive added: ‘We are aiming to premiere at least 70 Viaplay Originals this year’, emphasized the executive, and she enumerates: ‘The Swedish comedy-drama Harmonica, which is the first series from Josephine Bornebusch since her huge hit Love Me, and which was recently shown at the Berlinale; two Norwegian shows, Ida Takes Charge, based on an acclaimed novel by Kjersti Halvorsen, and the Henriette Steenstrup’s Pørni S2’.
‘Of course, acquisitions remain important to us, since we want to offer something for everyone on our service. When it comes to trends, the most important one for us is the way viewers continue to broaden their horizons and explore the world of great stories in languages other than English’, clarified Wallestam.
Viaplay will launch in the UK in 2H 2022, and in Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2023: ‘We will initially enter these markets with a “best of the Nordics” content line-up similar to what we already provide in the US. In other words, Viaplay Originals alongside additional films and series from across our region. In the longer term, it’s possible that we may add selected sports rights to Viaplay’s offering in some of our new European territories’, described the executive.
‘In only two years, we’ve taken the service from 4 to 11 market, and from 30 original premieres a year to more than 70. We’re one of the fastest growing and, I think, most interesting streaming companies in the world. I fully expect us to keep up this pace – and to move even faster! It’s an exciting time for our company and our partners, and above all for our viewers’, concluded Wallestam.
