Viaplay has been the main revenue driver for Modern Times Group (MTG), according to Jette Nygaard Andersen, the latter’s EVP; CEO of MTG’s Central European operations.
Speaking in a Q&A session at S&P Global’s European Multichannel Summit in London, she added that the service has everything including sport and is a match for what the company offers on Viasat, but on demand, not linear.
Andersen said that MTG had started planning a decade ago for the Nordic pay-TV market becoming saturated. It started a platform agnostic strategy in 2006/7 and launched its TV Everywhere offering Viasat on Demand in 2007.
Its standalone SVOD service Viaplay made its debut in 2011, a year before Netflix entered the Nordic market.
Looking at the market, there has been a 3% erosion in subscribers but 9% growth in revenues.
Andersen insisted that Viaplay is generally complementary to Viasat’s main offer and does not cannibalise it. Furthermore, it appeals to all viewers as it includes kids content, blockbusters and indeed sport in its offer.
Speaking more generally, Andersen said the company had launched MTGx, which should be profitable in Q4, as it wanted a vehicle to invest in MCNs, eSports, gaming and digital video content.
She also pointed out that a third of the population is now millennials and 50% of them are gamers.
In addition, there are 200 million active eSports players and a further 200 million eSports fans.
