Viaplay exits the US, Canada, and UK markets just five months after launch. That is a shame because Nordic Noir is popular, and a window of opportunity is opening.
This week, we are going to look at the abrupt cancellation of Nordic SVOD service Viaplay in the US, Canada, and the UK. It lasted just five months, and, while it’s clear why the Swedish company needed to cut it losses, there really was a good opportunity for it here in the US. One that could be about to grow even larger. But before we get into that…
I’ve been nagging you about trying the ‘Trackers’ features on the nScreenMedia website. Well, there’s another reason you should check it out this week. We’ve just added Vizio to the list of companies we are covering. It joins Netflix, Disney, Roku, and Comcast. And there are trackers for the US TV market, and we are just adding a tracker for VR and AR headsets. It’s the fastest way to get up to speed on the topics that matter in our industry. And if you’d like to sponsor the ‘Trackers’ features, send an email to sales@nscreenmedia.com.
Foreign content has never been more popular in the US (1:40)
Netflix is responsible more than any other service for accustoming US audiences to watch foreign content. Starting with the DVD by mail service and continuing into streaming, the company has brought many quality foreign language content into our homes.
It continues to succeed in the US with content it creates in local markets in foreign languages. Next TV found that 43% of total viewing hours over a recent 6-week period for the service accrued to international content, up from 20% in the same period last year.
Nordic content has been a key part of the international mix for Netflix over the years. Early hits like The Rain and Lilyhammer have given way to a steady stream of Nordic content on the service. Right now, you can watch popular shows like Troll, Ragnarok, The Valhalla Murders, and The Toscana.
Viaplay launched with a strong slate of content (3:30)
Viaplay has one of the most successful SVOD services in the Nordic region, with 6.6 million subscribers in the Nordics, Eastern Europe, and The Netherlands. It has succeeded in the face of stiff competition from global SVOD services like Netflix and HBO.
The Swedish-based service saw the success of Nordic content in the US and decided it could leverage its strong Nordic catalog to create a successful service in the country. In February 2023, the Swedish company launched Viaplay in the US for $5.99 monthly with a seven-day free trial. It also launched at about the same time in the UK and Canada.
It brought a solid library of the phenomenally popular Nordic Noir.
It had exclusive series like the Danish crime drama Trom, the Norwegian thriller Furia, and the Swedish drama Threesome, all with stars recognizable to US audiences. It also had 50 original titles, including the original A Man Called Ove (not the Tom Hanks version) and all three original Millennium movies in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
The service was available on all major TV OSs (Fire TV, Roku, Google TV, Apple TV) and mobile devices. It also struck distribution agreements with Comcast for Xfinity and Xumo platforms and through The Roku Channels Premium subscriptions.
The launch plan dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts. Unfortunately, it was not enough.
Viaplay is shuttering US, UK, and Canada operations (6:10)
Last week, Viaplay formerly announced it would discontinue the US, UK, and Canadian services. Facing a surprise 1 million decline in subscribers and a 16% drop in ad revenue, the company reported a second-quarter loss of $560 million with revenues of $450 million. It also will lay off 25% of its workforce.
Clearly, focusing on its home markets has become the priority for Viaplay. The dream of the company’s previous CEO, Anders Jensen, was to turn Viaplay into a global player like its huge rivals, Netflix and HBO. However, incoming CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann faces the unenviable task of unraveling the global strategy and righting the financial ship.
So, Viaplay is withdrawing from the US market just five months after entering it. That isn’t enough time to determine if the service could succeed or fail. And that is a shame because there could well be a window of opportunity for the service opening up.
The US is a challenging but achievable target for Viaplay (7:45)
Viaplay was missing one very important part of its successful Nordic formula when it launched in the US: Sport. In Sweden, for example, the service has the rights to carry Formula One, The Premier League, MLB, UEFA Europa and Conference Leagues, and much more. Sports properties like these made the service essential to sports fans in the regions it serviced. However, in the US, there simply weren’t any affordable and interesting sports rights available.
Viaplay was left to rely entirely on its Nordic scripted show library for success in the US. The population of Nordic speakers in the US is also too small (probably in the 200-300,000 range) to justify launching the service. In other words, to be successful, Viaplay needed to attract English-speaking viewers.
Undoubtedly, it is difficult for any service focused on content in a foreign language to succeed in the US and other English-speaking countries. That said, there is a demonstrated deep interest in Nordic content in the US. And other niche providers have succeeded by going deep into an area that the big players like Netflix are short on. For example, Crunchyroll has thrived in anime as Netflix and others have added that type of content.
The writer’s and actor’s strike could also create a dearth of new content in the US in the coming months. That might have created some space for Viaplay to connect with new audiences on the hunt for something new to watch.
So, the withdrawal of Viaplay from the US, Canada, and the UK is a disappointment. There is an opportunity for a service focused on Nordic content to build an interesting audience here. It won’t be Netflix-sized, but perhaps one million subscribers could be achievable. Unfortunately, it looks like we will never know if Viaplay could have realized the opportunity.
