NENT Group surpasses 3 million Viaplay subs, plans 2021 price hike

Anders Jensen

Viaplay has met its year-end target of 3 million subscribers, parent company Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group has said.

Announcing its Q4 results, NENT said that Viaplay had added 207,000 subscribers in the quarter, culminating a year in which it added 749,000 paying users. Overall, the streamer is now at 3.02 million users, just surpassing its 2020 target of 3 million.

The company has set a more modest target of 650,000 adds in 2021, with the streamer set to expand into the Baltics in March, Poland in August and the US at the end of the year. The Nordics are expected to make up 400,000 of that total, with the new international markets making up the remaining additions.

NENT said that engagement with Viaplay was also up during the year. Total streamed minutes on Viaplay were up 30%, with the company saying that this “reflected the continued and increased popularity of our originals, unique sports offering and acquired content, with new viewing records set in each category.” 

However, as the company continues to increase Viaplay’s portfolio of both original scripted content and sports rights, NENT said that it is planning on introducing a price increase in 2021.

Elsewhere, other subscription revenues were up 12% – excluding Viasat which was spun off into its own business in May.

NENT Group CEO Anders Jensen said: “The global Coronavirus pandemic made 2020 a challenging year and is continuing to impact lives in 2021. We have all embraced new ways of working, some of which will improve our lives, society and, hopefully, the environment for the long term. It has been great to see that Viaplay and our other products have been able to entertain millions of people at home, and we are now looking forward to bringing Viaplay to 5 new international markets this year. 

We accelerated our development in many areas in 2020, with our Viaplay subscriber base growing by 33% and hitting our 3 million year-end target, and I’m also very proud of the progress that we have made to become an even more equal and diverse company.”