Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, will launch its Viaplay streaming service in the Netherlands in Q1 2022 as the next step in its ongoing international expansion. Viaplay will become the exclusive Dutch home of Formula 1 in a three-year deal to 2024 and Bundesliga football until 2029, and will offer viewers a unique combination of premium live sports, Viaplay Originals, international films and series, and kids content.
Anders Jensen, NENT Group President and CEO: ‘The Netherlands is an ideal market for Viaplay and a very attractive next step towards our ambition of becoming the European streaming champion. Our long-term and multi-market partnerships with key sports rights owners, together with our ever-increasing line-up of original and exclusive content, will enable us to offer Dutch viewers something new and unique. When bringing Viaplay to a new market, we look for clear opportunities to grow, innovate, collaborate and take leadership. The Netherlands delivers on all counts’.
‘Given the content offerings that we will now have for our international markets, I am confident that we will at the very least meet our target of 4.5 million international subscribers by the end of 2025. We look forward to sharing further updates in the coming months and at our next Capital Markets Day in late September’, he added.
The enthusiasm and passion for Formula 1 in the Netherlands is currently shifting into a new gear as 23-year-old Red Bull Racing superstar Max Verstappen accelerates towards the pinnacle of the sport and battles for a maiden world title. Since becoming the youngest ever Formula 1® driver at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix and the sport’s youngest ever race winner at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen has landed 11 victories, 46 podium finishes and a top three spot in both the 2019 and 2020 FIA Formula One World Championships.
Alongside its unrivalled sports portfolio, NENT Group is the Nordic region’s leading producer of original drama, with more than 40 premieres planned for 2021. Viaplay will show a wide range of Nordic and international Viaplay Original series and films including local Dutch Viaplay Originals with volume gradually built up over time. In addition, NENT Group has long-term relationships with major US and international studios.
Today, 98% of the Netherlands’ 8 million households have a broadband connection and 90% pay for a TV subscription. Of the 7.9 million TV households, 3.8 million have a video streaming subscription, with approximately 1.6 subscriptions per household. The total number of video streaming subscriptions is projected to grow from 6.1 million in 2020 to 10.3 million in 2025, and the penetration of video streaming services from 48% to 66%. The number of subscriptions per household is expected to increase to 1.9. Subscription video streaming revenues in the Netherlands are projected to grow from approximately € 440m in 2020 to € 845m in 2025 (source: Ampere Analysis).
The launch date, pricing and packaging of Viaplay in the Netherlands will be announced in due course.
Viaplay is currently available in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Viaplay will be launched in Poland in August and in the US in late 2021, followed by the Netherlands in Q1 2022 and then four additional markets by the end of 2023.