Viaplay says a third of its subscribers have shared the account details for their subscriptions with others.
In a conference call for the Nordic streamer’s first quarter results, CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann said it was difficult to make a business when that was happening.
“It is like buying a cinema ticket and on the way out once you have watched the movie you give the ticket to another person who can then can watch it for free, and who then also on the way out gives that ticket to another person, who then also can watch it for free.”
Viaplay has now launched a number of initiatives to limit the number of concurrent streams for live sports events in some markets. Anyone believed to be using a shared account will be asked to take out a paid subscription.
Lindemann said the actions had proved successful and reduced sharing levels about to 80 percent or more on an event basis.
In the summer, Viaplay will introduce measures similar to those already put in place by other operators. It will work through an eligible home device that will have to be pre-verified within the home effectively blocking sharing outside the household.
“What is very clear that we do need much more help from the politicians and regulators to prevent and police all forms of illegal content distribution which effectively amount to theft of the content in which creators, owners and distributors have invested substantial sums,” said Lindemann.
This summer, Viaplay will also introduce an advertising-supported tier to its offer.
The broadcaster also plans a new sports news channel, which will draw on content from Sky Sports News and the Premier League international feed. It will be available in most Viaplay markets.
“This is a natural way to provide even more great coverage to sports fans, make our products even more relevant and monetise even better on our sports rights and production investments,” commented Lindemann.
Viaplay will shortly discuss carriage with potential partners for the advertising supported channel.
After its much-publicised financial restructuring, core operations grew by 6% to SEK 4,459 million, though the growth reflects recent sublicensing deals such as the Premier League in Sweden and Denmark.
The company expects Viaplay subscription sales to return to growth once recent price increases have taken effect and account sharing resolved.
