Viaplay has admitted that costs are currently higher than expected and that they continue to rise at a rapid rate. Yet the streaming service is looking at innovations and changes, such as a channel in which all sports news will be shown.
In the first quarter 2024 report, Viaplay CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann admits that costs are starting to increase. “The reality is that our content costs have increased faster than our revenues in recent years, due to competition, underlying inflation and continued adverse currency movements. We cannot expect our direct customers and distribution partners to bear these cost increases 100% alone, therefore we have sublicensed select sports and non-sports content to other broadcasters and streamers.”
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Will Viaplay launch a news channel about sports in the Netherlands?
Lindemann then discusses changes that it has implemented, for example in the Netherlands, on behalf of Viaplay. “We are also innovating with new products, such as our exciting linear TV channel partnership with Talpa TV in the Netherlands.” Lindemann then reveals something that is coming: a new channel. “We also plan to launch a new sports news channel in most of our markets, taking further advantage of our extensive sports offering.”
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Viaplay is working on changes
According to Lindemann, many changes have already been initiated and will be implemented in the near future. “We are in discussions with our distribution partners about all of the above and will learn from what has been done well and not so well in recent years, both in terms of products that have worked and where we can improve the consumer offering and better monetize our content .”
