The Swedish TV market reached a new record high in revenue and Swedes consume more TV content than ever before. Yet this past year marks a clear turning point for the Swedish TV industry, with broadcast for the first time experiencing stagnating revenue and online video being the sole driver of industry growth. This is presented by Mediavision in their yearly industry report of the Swedish TV market, to be published later this week.

Consumers’ transition from broadcast to online video was slowly initiated already a few years ago, but was vastly accelerated during 2013. This shift will also have consequences for the market. After many years of continuous growth, with exception of the global financial crisis 2009 that lowered the advertising market, the broadcast TV market is now showing zero growth. Both advertising and pay TV revenue has come to a halt. Instead, online video is the current growth area, bringing the total market turnover to near 21 billion SEK – an annual increase of 2%.

During 2014, the decline in linear broadcast viewing has continued and even picked up in speed. Swedish TV consumers are increasingly turning to online video services like Netflix and Viaplay. Therefore, it is a real possibility that broadcast revenue will actually start decreasing in 2014, while growth in online video will continue. This development affects actors across all links of the value chain, from production companies to pay TV operators.

– Old truths in the TV industry and its, up until now, profitable business models are being challenged in several ways, but ultimately, what it all comes down to is a basic change in consumer behavior. Consumer interest for TV has never been higher, which fundamentally is a positive for the market. Now is a matter for industry actors to find new models to compete and to capitalize on this high demand, says Marie Nilsson, CEO at Mediavision.

Press release Swedish TV Market 20140611