Scandinavian Streamer Viaplay Struggling, CEO Anders Jensen Out – The Hollywood Reporter
Anders Jensen has stepped down as CEO of Scandinavian media group Viaplay after a lousy quarter that saw ad sales slump and subscriber numbers drop.
Jensen, who is credited with actively moving Viaplay into early production and focusing on streaming as a Nordic company, is leaving the position of CEO after five years and will be replaced. by Jorgen Madsen Lindemann, former CEO of MTG, the former parent company of Viaplay.
Viaplay announced Jensen’s resignation early Monday morning after it released second-quarter results that showed the company recorded an operating loss (EBIT) of $23.1 million to $27.7 million (200 million euros). million – 300 million Swedish Krona) with projected sales of 4.5 billion – 4.6 billion Swedish Krona ($415 million – $420 million).
That’s bad news all round. Ad sales are down double digits, with ad revenue expected to fall between 12% and 16% on an organic basis, due to “a rapid and marked decline in the TV advertising market and radio,” the streaming and pay TV businesses are shrinking with “lower demand in the Nordic and international D2C streaming subscription markets as well as wholesale subscription sales.” lower than that of the linearly distributed counterparts.” And cost-cutting at the company has been slow to deliver the expected savings.
The situation is so dire, Viplay has withdrawn its financial and operating goals for 2025 and will issue a new medium-term outlook on July 20.
“Given the current challenges, the company would be best served if I stepped down and I have therefore decided to do so,” Jensen said in a statement. “I wish the company and the team all the best in the future.”
Jensen has bet big on the future of streaming and original programming at Viaplay, aggressively ramping up in-house production — the company just greenlit a new TV series from Cash Snabba author Jens Lapidus — and acquire expensive sports rights for its premium services. Jensen also has international ambitions, launching a Nordic version of the streaming service in the UK last year and in the US in February.
