Viaplay

Viaplay

Viaplay

Swedish video streaming service

This article is about the streaming service. For the media company that owns it, see Viaplay Group.

Viaplay is a Swedish video streaming service owned by Viaplay Group.[1]

Quick Facts Type of site, Predecessor(s) ...

History

A Viaplay reporter interviews Bartosz Jurecki during the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship

Originally owned by Modern Times Group, it was launched in May 2007 as Viasat On Demand.[2] It was rebranded as Viaplay in 2011.[2] Viaplay released its first original fiction title, Swedish Dicks, in 2016.[3] As of 2021, it was available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland and Poland.[4][5] Capitalizing on the popularity of Nordic noir titles, the service rolled out plans to expand to Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands in November 2022, and Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the United States by 2023.[4][5][6][7] Viaplay launched in the United States ahead of the previously planned schedule, initially exclusively to Comcast customers, with the intention to launch a direct-to-consumer platform later.[8]

As the mother company Viaplay Group holds extensive sports rights in multiple markets, Viaplay provides sports broadcasts in most countries where it operates.

In May 2022, Viaplay announced the organisation had added the National Hockey League and Poland-based MMA promotion KSW to its UK offering.[9] In July 2022, Viaplay Group acquired U.K.-based pay TV channel operator, Premier Sports, and rebranded it under the Viaplay name by 1st November 2022.[10][11]

On 20 July 2023, it was announced that Viaplay would lay off 25% of staff while pursuing a new strategy to focus on its core Nordic, Netherlands and Viaplay Select operations.[12] The new focus means that Viaplay will completely exit from its Baltic markets, and discontinue its low tier non-sports offering in each of its remaining international markets, including the United States and United Kingdom, in order to focus on its sports offering and the sale of non-sports content through its Viaplay Select business.

In 2024, Viaplay will leave the UK and be rebranded back to Premier Sports. Like it was, up until 2022.[13] Viaplay also left the US, Canada and Baltic markets in the beginning of 2024 as part of their new strategy.

Launch

More information Release date, Country/territory ...

    References

    1. [1]
      Barker, Alex (2 February 2021). "Netflix meets its match in Nordic minnow Nent". Financial Times.
    2. [2]
      "The Netflix effect – OTT in Europe". DigitalTVeurope. 5 August 2014.
    3. [3]
      Lodderhose, Diana (14 September 2016). "Swedish Comedy Series Starring Peter Stormare Eyes U.S. Network Pickup Via Lionsgate TV". Deadline Hollywood.
    4. [4]
      Roxborough, Scott (22 September 2021). "Scandinavian Streamer Viaplay to Launch in U.K., Canada, Germany". Hollywood Reporter.
    5. [5]
      Keslassy, Elsa (23 September 2021). "Inside Scandinavian Streamer Viaplay's Plans to 'Capitalize' on 'Nordic Noir' Globally". Variety.
    6. [6]
      Keslassy, Elsa (6 October 2021). "Nent Group Boss Anders Jensen on Viaplay's Scripted Strategy and Plan for Global Domination". Variety.
    7. [7]
      Grater, Tom (21 September 2021). "Nordic Streaming Service Viaplay To Launch In UK, Canada, Germany, Austria & Switzerland By 2023". Deadline Hollywood.
    8. [8]
      "Premium Nordic streaming service Viaplay to launch in the US on 15 December". NENT Group. 2021-12-13.
    9. [9]
      "NHL and KSW added to Viaplay's UK portfolio". Sports Business. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
    10. [10]
      "Viaplay buys Premier Sports, hires DAZN's Edward Breeze". Broadband TV News. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
    11. [11]
      Bassam, Tom (21 July 2022). "Viaplay acquires Premier Sports in UK£30m deal to expand UK offering". SportsPro. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
    12. [12]
      "Viaplay to Lay Off 25 Percent of Staff, End Streaming Services in U.S., U.K. to Focus on Core Nordic Markets, Explore Sale". Hollywood Reporter. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
    13. [13]
      "Q2 2023 interim report January-June". Viaplay Group. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
    14. [14]
      "NENT Group to launch Viaplay in Iceland on 1 April". Nordic entertainment group. 26 March 2020.
    15. [15]
      "MTG lanserar Viaplay i Baltikum". News Powered by Cision. 28 July 2016.
    16. [16]
      "NENT Group is launching Viaplay in the Baltics". Nordic entertainment group. 9 March 2021.
    17. [17]
      "NENT Group to launch Viaplay in Poland on 3 August". Nordic entertainment group. 6 July 2021.
    18. [18]
      "Viaplay to launch in the Netherlands on 1 March". Nordic entertainment group. 8 December 2021.
    19. [19]
      "Premier Sports becomes Viaplay on 1st November". rxtvinfo.com. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
    20. [20]
      "Viaplay Group and SBS bring Viaplay Select to Australian audiences". viaplaygroup.com. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
    21. [21]
      "Viaplay sets US and Canada direct-to-consumer launch dates". viaplaygroup.com. February 8, 2023.
    Stub icon

    This article about a television website is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
    Share this article:

    This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Viaplay, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.