Newsletter 14th of April: Amazon Prime Video Relaunch in Sweden – So Far So Good?
NEWSLETTER
14 April 2021
Last week’s newsletter reported on the launch of Amazon Prime Video in Sweden on March 1st. In this case, Sweden is of particular interest as Amazon earlier launched a specific Swedish e-commerce site. This has been a success story in other markets – shopping and SVOD bundled together to strengthen the Amazon offering. So, this far, what can be said on the SVOD subscribing figures?
Mediavision tracks all SVOD services in the Nordic countries, including Amazon Prime Video. Since its’ launch back in 2016, growth has been pretty modest – especially in comparison to Amazon’s competitors in the SVOD space, both global and local services. This far, the Nordic approach is only fully materialized in Sweden where both the e-commerce site and the SVOD service are now (partially) locally adapted. The re-launch campaign “Streaming is believing” kicked-off in March and Mediavision can now present Q1 figures for Amazon’s SVOD uptake. As of Q1 2021, Amazon Prime Video had a Swedish customer base of approx. 200 000 subscribing households, which is basically the same as in Q4 (before the Swedish launch). And the explanation is not unawareness of the brand or the service itself, considering that close to 70% of all Swedes (15-74-year-olds) state that they are familiar with the streaming service Amazon Prime Video (similar to other available services such as Telia Play and Comhem Play Plus).
The Swedish relaunch of Amazon Prime Video has similarities with the October 2020 launch of Amazon.se. After a strong hype before the launch of Amazon.se, the interest weakened according to Google. This pinpoints the difficulty of evaluating a well-known international brand, when entering a new market. So far, the legacy of Amazon as one of the largest retailers in the world, has not mattered that much for Prime Video in Sweden. On the other hand, and by comparison, Disney+ likely had a stronger benefit from its well-known brand (and widely known content library). More than 500 000 households signed-up for the service shortly after its launch. The price level is similar, but Amazon has a library many times larger and broader than Disney’s. So, how will Amazon establish a competitive service in the Nordics – both e-commerce and streaming? We’ll keep track.
Industry News
Allente Launches the New Brand
One year post the merger of Viasat Consumer and Canal Digital, the time has come to launch the new brand Allente to consumers. Allente offers four packages, three of which includes the Viaplay SVOD-service.
Polaris Media Invests in E-sports
Norwegian media group Polaris Media is investing in e-sports by acquiring an ownership stake in Good Games AS. The investment of approximately NOK 10 million resulted in a 22% ownership stake.
Cannes Lions 2021Goes Virtual
In 2020, the Cannes Lion event was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year, the event will be run as a fully digital experience on June 21st – June 25th.
Discovery+ Greenlights New Original Series
Starting June 15th, all purchases of movies or TV shows made through the Google Play Movies & TV app will be transferred to the YouTube application.
Swedish Press Support Upped 100 million
The Swedish government has proposed an increase of the governmental support to the media by 100 million SEK. 40 million is said to be directed to newspapers affected by Postnord’s new distribution schedule.
Mediavision in the News
Streamingmarknaden i Sverige mognar – kampen om att vara hushållens förstaval hårdnar
Ökningstakten i antalet nya hushåll som skaffar en streamingtjänst har mattats av. En mogen marknad ställer högre krav på att vara hushållens förstahandsval.
Swedish audio streaming market value rises 13% in 2020, radio advertising down 9%
The Mediavision consultancy said that the Swedish market for digital music and audio book streaming expanded by 13 percent or by SEK 400 million year on year in 2020, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sweden: Families prefer Disney+ over Netflix
The launch of Disney+ in 2020 fundamentally changed the competitive landscape for streaming in Sweden in many ways – but perhaps most notably in the battle over families with young children.
Så blir tv-operatörernas roll på framtidens streamingmarknad
Vilken roll ska tv-operatörerna ha i framtidens medielandskap när konkurrensen på innehållsmarknaden ökar? Dagens Media har pratat med fyra experter på området för att kartlägga utvecklingen.
”Ska riva ned varenda betalvägg som finns”
De revolutionerade poddmarknaden – och skapade ett miljardbolag. Nu vill entreprenörerna bakom Acast förpassa betalväggar till internets kyrkogård.
Därför hotar vågen av strömningstjänster den klassiska tv-serien
I april lanseras ytterligare en strömningstjänst i Sverige: Paramount+. Antalet strömningstjänster har exploderat dom senaste åren – och frågan är vad det gör med innehållet.
Nordic families preferring Disney+ over Netflix
New analysis by Stockholm-based consultancy Mediavision has found Disney+ already has a “very strong” position among families with children.
Vi har Netflix, HBO og Disney+: Alligevel ser danskerne hvert år 19 millioner film ulovligt
Ulovlig streaming og download kan give hackere adgang til alt fra dine kreditkortoplysninger til private billeder.
Report: Nordic fiction highly valued by SVoDs
Nordic fiction has a strong reputation on global streaming services. Titles like Home for Christmas and The Rain on Netflix, and Björnstad and Beforeigners on HBO Nordic have been well received by both critics and audiences alike, reports Mediavision.