Newsletter 12th of March
NEWSLETTER
12 March 2025
Welcome back to another edition of Mediavision’s newsletter. Here are the main topics this week:
- Competition intensifies in the Finnish streaming market
- Egmont increases profit while revenue falls
- Youtube launches new subscription tier to attract more subscribers
STREAMING
Competition intensifies in the Finnish streaming market
Since 2018, the number of paid streaming subscriptions in Finland has doubled, surpassing three million by the end of 2024. Today, 60 percent of households have at least one paid streaming service. This is lower than in the other Nordic countries, where household penetration averages around 70 percent. This suggests there is room for further growth in Finland. Competition between global and local players is also contributing to the growth potential.
Read up on the full press release here with commentary from Mediavision’s senior analyst Fredrik Liljeqvist.
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Insight Nordic TV & StreamingThis analysis covers both the TV- and streaming markets in the Nordic countries. It rests on three pillars: the consumers, the market, and the actors. Analyzing the consumers takes us far – but not all the way. Studying the actors and the market as a whole is just as important. |
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Prime Video begins AI dubbing trial
Amedia reorganizes media houses
Twitch is letting more streamers access its monetization tools
German authorities shut down illegal streaming network |
EARNINGS
Egmont increases profit while revenue falls
Yesterday, the Nordic media group Egmont released its financial statement for 2024. The company increased its operating profit by 21 percent to DKK 761 million, while revenue declined by 4 percent to just under DKK 17 billion.
Egmont attributes the rise in operating profit to three main factors. First, growth in its subscription and licensing businesses across media platforms, with an increasing number of direct customer relationships for services such as digital book streaming, educational licenses, computer games, and TV 2 Play. The group now has over 5 million subscribers across its business areas.
Second, Egmont saw record-high viewership for its TV programs, with multiple shows attracting over one million viewers, alongside successful book and magazine releases. Lastly, the company improved operational efficiency to counter rising costs, emphasizing digital scalability as a key driver across its business areas.
Egmont operates four divisions, each generating billions in revenue, with some spanning multiple sectors. One of these, the TV division, is dominated by TV 2 Norway, while the magazine division, Story House Egmont, publishes in 27 countries. As a result, the company is particularly sensitive to currency fluctuations, which affected revenue, according to the press release.
Besides currency effects, Egmont cites a declining magazine market as a contributing factor to the revenue drop. Additionally, Nordisk Film struggled to match its 2023 performance, which was bolstered by extraordinary sales of gaming consoles and record-high revenue.
“2024 was a good year for Egmont with solid operating profit of EUR 102m. We’re delighted to see our media – including streaming media and computer games as well as magazines, books and cinemas – succeeding in the market and being so important to users. We’re constantly increasing the number of direct customer relationships and focusing on building leading, digitally scalable positions. Our businesses have also continued to excel at optimisation”, says Egmont’s President and CEO, Steffen Kragh.
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Insight Nordic Media & MarketsThis analysis tracks the progress of individual and household payments per service and actor, as well as overall media expenditures. The primary focus is mapping out the allocation of expenditures across audio, video, text, and access. |
STREAMING
Youtube launches new subscription tier to attract more subscribers
Last week, YouTube announced a new premium subscription tier called Premium Lite. This new subscription allows users to watch videos across categories such as gaming, fashion, beauty, cooking, news, and more—ad-free. However, ads will still appear on music content and music videos.
Premium Lite lacks several features included in the full YouTube Premium subscription, such as downloads and background play. The new subscription tier has been piloted in Thailand, Germany, and Australia and is now available to users in the U.S. It will also roll out to all users in the pilot markets in the coming weeks. In the U.S., Premium Lite is priced at USD 7.99 per month, compared to the full YouTube Premium subscription, which costs USD 13.99. YouTube has stated that it plans to expand Premium Lite to more markets in the coming months, initially as pilot programs.
This expansion is part of YouTube’s strategy to generate more revenue from subscriptions. It may also enhance the viewing experience on TVs, as there will be fewer ads. YouTube recently reported that most of its viewing in the US now takes place on TV sets, surpassing mobile devices and desktops.
This year marks YouTube’s 20th anniversary, and last week, the company announced that YouTube Music and Premium had reached 125 million global subscribers, including trial users.
Mediavision in the News
Competition intensifies in Finnish streaming market – Broadband TV News
TV4-affären – en Norgehistoria som skakar om – Sveriges Radio
Mediavision: Podcast listening sets new record in Sweden – Podnews
Podcastlyssnandet på ny rekordnivå i Sverige – Omni
Over 700,000 households in Sweden now have access to illegal IPTV – Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Research: Sweden adds 1m SVoD subs in 2024 – Advanced Television
Nytt rekord för stacking 2024 – Dagens Media
Marie Nilsson: Med lite tur blir 2025 ett ljust medieår – Dagens Media
Svenske unge tilbringer næsten en time om dagen på at se videoer på sociale medier – Mediawatch
Apparna avslöjar svenskarnas dåliga vanor – Dagens Industri
Research: Half Norwegian households now have streaming bundles via operators – Advanced Television
2025 preview: Who drives scripted commissioning next year? – Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Tiktok störst bland unga – det blir konsekvenserna – Expressen
Stadig flere velger strømming med reklame: – Lar seg ikke skremme – Kampanje
Strømming med reklame fortsetter å vokse kraftig i Norge – KOM24
Industry Events
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** Mediavision will present