Bookbeat (Q3)

– Revenues increased by 39% in the first three quarters of 2021, compared to the same period 2020
– The number of paying users has grown by 47% at the end of Q3 2021 vs the same period in 2020
– The target for paying users by the end of 2021 is set to 600’ after surpassing 400’ in 2020

Nextory (Q3)

– An increase in paying users by 68% YOY
– The Spanish launch in August is highlighted as a contributing factor to the growth
– Nextory is now available in nine European markets
– In October, the company acquired Youboox, the largest local streaming service in France

Storytel (Q3)

– Revenues SEK 583 million, SEK 3 million below forecast
– An average of 1 724 000 paying subscribers, worldwide
– Annual growth in paying subscribers of 363 700 (+27%) compared to Q3 2020
– The report caused Storytel’s stock to slide, trading at SEK 179 on Tuesday (compared to SEK 195 at the time of the release and SEK 245 one month ago)

Last week, Netflix introduced a price hike across several markets with immediate effect, including the Nordics. The increase is said to be motivated by increasing costs in new original productions (including local Nordic series and movies) as well as improvements to technical aspects of the service. The news came shortly after WarnerMedia announced that HBO Max will launch at a lower price than HBO Nordic’s current price.

In other Netflix-related news, the company has entered a partnership with Walmart to sell Squid Game merchandise on their site and inked a multi-year film deal with Lupin star Omar Sy. Squid Game is reported to be Netflix most popular launch to date, viewed by 111 million accounts and rated no 1 on Netflix top 10 list in 94 countries.

 
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression. In the announcement, the committee underlined the vital importance of an independent media to democracy and warned it is increasingly under assault.

In Finland, No Time to Die drew close to 150 000 visitors to cinemas during the first four days after opening (1st to 4th of October). In Sweden, 222 000 tickets to No Time to Die were sold in the same period. The opening was even more successful in Denmark, with 270 000 tickets sold – resulting in the most successful opening to date and total box office revenues of close to 34 million DKK. A new record was also set in Norway, where the Bond movie is estimated to have generated box office revenues of 22 million NOK during the first weekend.

Also in the US, box office seems to be bouncing back. As of the beginning of September, domestic box office grossed approximately USD 2.6 billion for 2021 YTD, thereby surpassing total revenues for the full year of 2020. However, this should be compared to the USD 10-11 billion in total revenues generated yearly 2010-2019.

The funding for NRK is set to NOK 6 billion – an increase of NOK 123 million compared to 2021

The Ministry of Culture’s agreement with TV 2 on compensation for commercial public broadcasting will continue, with a maximum compensation of NOK 135 million in 2022

Total funding for video games and movies will increase by NOK 29 million in 2022

 
Apple vill ge sig in i Hollywood – bygger nytt jättekontor – Di Digital 

Interest in sports keeps growing in the Nordics – Senal News

Disney Plus breddar sig för att nå fler – Dagens Media

HBO’s new streaming service starts in Oct – Helsingn Sanomat 

Research: Swedish audiobook streaming revenues growing – Advanced Television