Back to the future: Premier Sports will take over the Viaplay Sports channels in the new year after Viaplay’s international expansion backfired.
- Premier Sports to take control over its former sports channels in the UK, just over a year after it sold them.
- Uncertainty over other aspects of Viaplay’s streaming offer.
- Viaplay has given itself until the end of Thursday to publish its latest financial results and plans for the future.
Viaplay’s last major report to investors in July revealed plans to exit the UK and to close its streaming service. The future of its linear sports channels was left hanging in the air.
The company was due to publish its latest financial report today, but publication was delayed until tomorrow (Thursday) to allow a deal with Premier Sports to go through.
It’s only been 13 months since Viaplay replaced Premier Sports in the UK.
Since then, Premier Sports has continued to broadcast in the Republic of Ireland, while Premier Sports 1 and 2, plus Freesports were rebranded Viaplay Sports 1 and 2 and Viaplay Xtra to viewers in the UK.
What’s changing?
In the new year, Premier Sports will take over Viaplay’s sports channels. They’ll be delivered via the same channels on Sky and Virgin Media.
Alternatively, fans will be able to stream via Prime Video and iTunes. Meanwhile, Premier Sports will relaunch its own streaming service in the UK in 2024.
The ‘new’ Premier Sports service will consist of two linear channels, according to today’s announcement.
What’s on?
Viewers will be able to watch coverage of the Scottish League Cup, plus international football featuring Scotland’s team games and the UEFA Euro 2024 playoffs. La Liga, NHL and NASCAR coverage will also continue, as will United Rugby Championship coverage. Broadly, the new Premier Sports will inherit the sports rights currently held by Viaplay UK.
How are subscribers affected?
Premier Sports promises a ‘seamless transition’ from Viaplay to Premier Sports.
But there’s still uncertainty for subscribers who took up Viaplay’s offer that combined sports with Nordic films and series, which isn’t part of the Premier Sports deal. As of the time of publication, Viaplay was still marketing the full package, despite previously indicating it would be pulling the plug on the service in the UK. It had been previously offering new subscribers the option to pay for a full 12 months.
What’s happening to Viaplay?
In the future, Viaplay plans to focus on its Nordic and Dutch operations, while focusing on content partnerships with distributors in other countries.
Viaplay is expected to confirm its latest financial position and the sale of its UK business by tomorrow evening. Its financial reports were already delayed from October and were actually due to be published today (Wednesday).
It faced mounting losses after its international expansion failed to grow fast enough. At the same time, ad revenue from its original Nordic channels fell sharply.
Marc Thornham