The Swedish-run company lost one million subscribers internationally in the second quarter of the year and is now laying off 450 employees.
Viaplay announced its future on Thursday morning. That picture is not pretty. The company disappears from certain markets, sells, for example, its sports TV rights and puts employees in the mileage factory PDO
Struggling with serious financial problems, the streaming service Viaplay announced its results and new strategy and plans on Thursday.
On Thursday, the company’s shares were down about 27 percent. Turnover increased, but the company’s profit collapsed into a loss.
The fall in value of the stock in recent months has been staggering.
In the future, Viaplay will focus on the markets of the Nordic countries and the Netherlands.
The strong expansion into new markets in recent years has been heavily loss-making. Viaplay will completely exit certain markets such as the United States, Great Britain and the Baltic countries.
– We focus our attention and resources on those markets where we can compete in the long term. We make sure our products are relevant, popular and productive, CEO and Chairman of the Board Jørgen Madsen Lindemann says in Thursday’s announcement.
Sports rights available?
Max Verstappen’s success interests TV viewers in the man’s home country of Holland. That’s why Viaplay will focus on the Dutch and Nordic markets in the future. PDO
Over the past few years, the company has acquired extremely expensive and long-term sports TV rights in a Nordic manner.
According to industry insiders, the company has also paid a heavy premium for certain rights.
Through Viaplay, you can watch e.g. Premier League, Formula 1, FIS Winter Sports World Cups and World Championships, as well as UFC.
Starting next spring, the media rights for the Ice Hockey World Cup will be the property of Viaplay.
The tangible impact of the company’s predicament on the Finnish consumer may therefore be that certain sports rights are sublicensed or sold to other operators.
The company has already sub-licensed certain rights such as the NHL and FIS winter sports to, among others, Yleisradio.
Despite the windy situation, sports seem to remain an important product for Viaplay.
450 people in lire
According to Norwegian sources, the Premier League TV rights cost Viaplay a whopping two billion euros. It is a multi-year and co-Nordic TV right. PDO
Viaplay has received a lot of criticism after raising the price of its service in Finland, for example. Now the company plans to review its pricing as well.
The extensive cost-saving program includes a review of the entire business strategy. Viaplay Group is also considering the sale of its assets and the entire company is currently for sale.
It has to lay off 25 percent of its entire staff in the Nordic countries. The reorganization will affect approximately 450 employees.
The loss for the second quarter of the year was hundreds of millions of euros. Minimizing losses will be the company’s number one priority in the future.
Deadline.com in addition to sports rights, Nordic original series will be part of Viaplay’s core business in the future.