The Swedish TV industry is undergoing a major transformation. The viewing is shifting from traditional broadcast to online and the revenues from online services are taking substantial shares of the overall market.
According to the recently published market report from Mediavision, the Swedish TV market had a turnover of SEK21.5 billion in 2015, representing a modest growth of 2.4% compared to the previous year. An increasing proportion of the TV market revenues comes from digital services. For full year 2015 Mediavision estimates that 15% of the total turnover (excluding public service), was generated by online TV, equivalent to SEK2.5 billion. The increase in digital revenues comes from advertising as well as consumer spend.
The effects of digitisation are expected to intensify in 2016, Mediavision predicts that online video will account for approximately 20% of total TV revenues, as both reach and viewing time continue to rise. In addition, consumers continue to show increasing interest in streaming subscriptions.
“The number of streaming subscriptions in Sweden is growing steadily, both through new customer acquisitions as well as an increase in total number of subscriptions per household,” according to Marie Nilsson, CEO of Mediavision.
“At the same time, online video advertising is facing several challenges such as ad blocking and a lack of standardised measurement, which has a restraining effect on the otherwise growing market.”
The Mediavision report also shows that digitisation leads to redistribution of revenues between market actors. International providers such as Youtube and Netflix are gaining market shares at the expense of domestic actors.
“Nordic media companies experience an exciting era where their ability to build digital competencies and adapt their offerings will be crucial,” said Nilsson.
