Viaplay Group has confirmed it’s maintaining its targets for the rest of 2022, despite a projected shortfall in the Nordic market.
Last month, the streaming operation said it was reducing its year-end Nordic target from 4.8 million to 4.6 million subscribers, though its group target was unchanged at 7.3 million.
In a statement released to coincide with its Capital Markets Day on Wednesday, Viaplay said it was addressing “short-term challenges” in the Nordic markets.
The Group’s 2023 outlook is for Group sales to grow by 24-26% and for Nordic sales to grow by 12-15%. The number of paying Viaplay subscribers is expected to grow by 23% from approximately 7.3 million at the end of 2022 to approximately 9 million at the end of 2023, of which 5 million subscribers are expected to be in the Nordics and 4 million subscribers in the Group’s international markets.
“After just two years, we are already over halfway towards our 12 million Viaplay subscriber target. Our international expansion is running ahead of plan and we expect to achieve combined profitability for the international operations in 2024 – one year ahead of schedule,” said Anders Jensen, Viaplay Group President and CEO Viaplay.
An agreement has been signed with European streaming operator Pickbox NOW to make Viaplay Select available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. Viaplay Select is a curated offering of Viaplay Originals and third-party content made available to distribution partners for a fixed fee. As a result, Viaplay Select will now be available in 18 markets in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America.
Viaplay is currently available direct-to-consumer in 11 European countries and will launch in the US and Canada in February and March respectively. No further direct-to-consumer markets are expected to be launched in 2023.
A number of management changes have now been made: Kim Poder has been appointed EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for the Group’s Nordic operations; Alexander Bastin EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for the Group’s Baltic, Polish and Dutch operations; Matthew Hooper EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for the UK operations; and Vanda Rapti EVP and Chief Commercial Officer for North America and Viaplay Select.
