Read up on the full press release here, with commentary from Mediavision’s senior analyst Fredrik Liljeqvist.

Disney

• • Revenues for Disney grew 8% from 21.81 billion in Q4 2021 to USD 23.51 billion in Q4 2022.
  • Disney+ had a total of 161.8 million global subscribers in Q4 2022, a decrease of 2.4 million subs from 164.2 million in the previous quarter. This is the streaming service’s first subscriber loss since launching in 2019.
  • As part of Disney’s effort to make its streaming business profitable, CEO Bob Iger revealed during the earnings call that the company is planning a significant restructuring, including job cuts affecting 7,000 employees.
  • Shares of Disney were up 5% after the bell.

Sanoma

• • The Finnish media company’s net sales grew to EUR 260 million, compared to 252 million in Q4 2021.
  • Sanoma reported growth in paying subscriber base of SVOD service Ruutu+ in 2022, but any exact number of subscriber growth were not given.
  • The company expects a mild recession in Finland, leading to expected decline in ad market and modest net sales for 2023.

Schibsted

• • Norwegian media company Schibsted’s EBITDA were NOK 651m in Q4 2022, up 3% year-over-year.
  • The group’s news media were flat underlying revenues year-over-year in Q4 2022, due to challenging advertising market, particularly in Sweden.
  • Continued growth for Schibsted in digital subscription revenues, up 18% year-over-year in Q4 2022, supported by PodMe.

Viaplay

• • Paying subscribers of Viaplay grew 83% year-over-year from 4 million in Q4 2021 to 7,3 million in Q4 2022, thanks to the company’s great expansion. Viaplay launched their direct-to-consumer streaming service in the UK during Q4 and will launch in Canada and the US during Q1 2023.
  • 24% organic sales growth with reported sales of SEK 4,670 million, compared to SEK 3,553 million in Q4 2021.
  • Total reported operating income was SEK -294 million, which according to CEO Anders Jensen “reflecting weaker advertising markets, higher sports rights costs yet to be offset by higher prices, and the temporary discontinuation of a distribution agreement in Sweden”.

Swedish audiobook service Storytel has launched a new international landing page. The offer presented on the new page is unlimited listening and reading of more than one million audio- and e-books for the price of EUR 9.99 per month. The new landing page indicates a major international expansion, as customers in several different countries are being directed to the new page.

The new Storytel landing page covers several African countries such as Gambia, Senegal, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A few European countries have also been added, such as Slovakia, Malta and Czech Republic. If you are entering the Storytel website from countries where the new page has not launched yet, you are directed to a page listing the 26 countries where Storytel is already is present.

In the past, Storytel has (with a few exceptions) launched in one new country at a time. But with the new landing page, it’s easy to interpret that a bigger expansion may be in the pipeline. Tomorrow, Storytel releases its full year report for 2022 and perhaps we will get more information regarding the potential expansion then.

Stark tillväxt för betalda podcast – Dagens Media

Sweden: Significant growth in podcast households – Advanced Television

TVOD in Sweden reaches record levels in 2022 – Broadband TV News

Online køb og leje af film nåede nye højder i Sverige i 2022 – Mediawatch

Netflix drag – så ska kontodelare jagas – Svenska Dagbladet

Stort tapp för nya poddar i världen – “Kärvare läge” – Sveriges Radio

Netflix tros redovisa 4,5 miljoner nya prenumeranter – Omni

Nordics: 3 million SVOD accounts are borrowed from other households – Piracy Monitor