UPDATED / Streaming company Viaplay announces plan to withdraw non-sports subscription tier and exit UK as part of cutbacks following a financial crunch.
A change in fortune at Viaplay has seen the company abandon its rapid international expansion plans amidst falling ad revenues and stiff competition in the streaming market. Viaplay now expects its subscriber base to grow to 7.0 to 7.2 million by the end of the year, lower than originally expected.
It’s told investors this morning that it will focus on its core Nordic business, plus its streaming service in The Netherlands. Elsewhere in the world, it will focus on its profitable Viaplay Select operation.
As part of the plan, Viaplay plans to withdraw from the Baltics and plans to cut back on its subscription offering elsewhere in the world, including the UK.
The plan means Viaplay is discontinuing its low tier non-sports offering in countries including the UK. Current sports subscribers will still be able to access sports coverage …for now.
What next for UK subscribers?
This morning’s investor announcement confirmed Viaplay’s intention to cut back its full streaming service to Nordic countries, plus The Netherlands.
Since then, it’s been confirmed Viaplay is planning a full exit from the UK. This leaves a number of organisations facing a uncertain future regarding broadcast rights. It’s expected that Viaplay will attempt to partner with others or sell its UK sports business. This includes the sports channels it acquired by buying Premier Sports last year.
Viaplay’s plans:
- Low tier non-sport streaming option will be cut from Viaplay UK and other international markets.
- Remaining sports service set to be offloaded.
- As a result, there’s uncertainty over future Scottish football broadcast rights.
- However, Viaplay is, as of 13:00 today, currently still selling both non-sport and sports subscriptions, so the timeline for these changes remains unclear.
- Update 13:17: Viaplay has told us that the changes announced today affect users of the streaming service in the UK, but not the Viaplay Sport TV channels on satellite and cable. The future of the TV channels remains up in the air…
Marc Thornham
Article first published at 08:00 and updated to include the latest information as it emerges.