Piracy has been a challenge for the Nordic media market for many years. Despite efforts by several actors to limit piracy, illegal consumption of films, series and live sports is growing in most Nordic markets. An increasing number of households also pay for illegal TV services, so-called illegal IPTV.
Today, 25 percent of all 15-74-year-olds in the Nordics say they have downloaded or illegally streamed films, series or live sports in the last month. This means that there are roughly 5 million pirates in the Nordics, which is about 400,000 more than the previous year. This is evident from recently published data from Mediavision.
In addition, an increasing number of households choose to subscribe to illegal TV services, so-called illegal IPTV (Internet Protocol Television). There are currently around 1.3 million households in the Nordics that pay to gain illegal access to thousands of TV and streaming services this way. That is an increase of 16 percent compared to last year.
– Piracy is still a problem in the Nordics. Financial pressure on households combined with generally increased prices for legal alternatives are factors that have likely contributed to growth, comments Natalia Borelius, analyst at Mediavision.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter from Mediavision. These are the main topics this week:
- Mediavision: Advertising revenue is increasingly important for streaming services
- Call for production incentives scheme in Denmark
- TV4 Play renews subscription offer and raises prices
STREAMING
Mediavision: Advertising revenue is increasingly important for streaming services
A clear growth for TV streaming subscriptions with advertising, also called HVOD, has been observed during the second quarter, according to Mediavision’s latest analysis of the Swedish TV and streaming market. These hybrid subscriptions, which offer lower prices in exchange for advertising, have become increasingly popular, especially as growth of the more expensive, ad-free subscriptions has stagnated in the past year. For the actors in the market, these lower priced streaming services could be the key to regain growth.
Read up on the full press release here, with commentary from Mediavision’s CEO Marie Nilsson.
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Insikt: TV & StreamingThis analysis covers both the TV- and streaming markets in Sweden. It rests on three pillars: the consumers, the market, and the actors. Analysing the consumers takes us far – but not all the way. Studying the actors and the market as a whole is just as important. |
POLITICS
Call for production incentives for TV & film in Denmark
Denmark’s film and TV industry currently stands as one of the only countries in Europe, alongside Luxembourg, without a production incentives scheme. Neighbouring countries Finland, Norway and Sweden and have all adopted a 25% production incentives scheme on local costs, with Iceland having up to 35%. The lack of financial incentives has been increasingly felt in the Danish TV and film industry. Denmark is said to be overlooked by international productions, in favour of other countries with financial incentives. This was the topic of a hearing last week in Christiansborg, which was organized by the Producers’ Association together with the Alliance for a Danish production incentive scheme.
Peter Bose, director of Miso Film, was present at the hearing. According to Bose, Denmark is not only missing out on international productions, but also Danish productions. He commented that Miso Film has received production incentives of 20 percent on productions over the past years. In total, his company has collected DKK 44 million in incentives under various international schemes. In connection with this, Miso Film has invested DKK 177 million in the countries where the production discounts were obtained, meaning that this money has ended up outside Denmark’s borders.
Among the politicians at the hearing, there was a broad agreement that an introduction of a incentives scheme is a “no-brainer”, and thus a political majority appears to be in favor of the introduction of such program. However, during a panel debate, it became clear that the main arrier to an introduction of the scheme is money, and although the goodwill was clear, the political messages about concrete actions were more uncertain.
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Content AnalysisThis analysis maps and analyses all on-demand content available on streaming services in the Nordics and its impact on consumption, actors, and market dynamics. It focuses on the interplay between supply and demand and thus provides a solid foundation for decision-making within content strategy and related areas. |
SVOD
TV4 Play renews subscription offer and raises prices
Swedish streaming service TV4 Play have updated their subscription offerings. Similar to other local actors in the Nordics, such as MTV in Finland and TV2 in Norway and Denmark, all paid subscriptions can now be bought either with or without ads.
With the changes in subscriptions, prices have also increased on selected plans. TV4 Play+ with and without ads, have seen price hikes of SEK 10 and SEK 20 respectively. The ad-supported subscription now costs SEK 69 per month while the ad-free tier costs SEK 169. The TV4 Play+ Sport tier also has a brand-new ad-supported tier, which costs SEK 349 per month, while the ad-free version remains at SEK 399 per month.
The most expensive subscription, TV4 Play+ Sport Total, gets a price increase of SEK 50 for the ad-free version, to SEK 599 per month. The new ad-supported version of this tier comes at the price of SEK 549, which is the same price as the ad-free version pre updates.
For current TV4 Play subscribers, the changes will take place on October 2nd. TV4 Play’s equivalent in Finland, MTV Katsomo, introduced a similar packaging last year in connection to its rebranding from C More. Still, prices for MTV Katsomo were recently increased.
MTV Katsomo+ with and without ads now cost EUR 6.95 and EUR 13.95 per month respectively, EUR 1 more than before. The price for MTV Katsomo+ Sports subscriptions have increased more, with the ad-supported tier rising from EUR 36.95 to 42.95 per month, while the ad-free version is up from 42.95 to 47.95 monthly.
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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. |
Mediavision in the News
Marie Nilsson: Det berättar ungas medievanor om morgondagens mediekonsumtion – Dagens Media
Advertising revenue is increasingly important for streaming services – Broadband TV News
Mediavision’s Adrian Grande shares his takes on HVOD in the Nordics following Viaplay’s launch in Denmark, Norway and Sweden – Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Cirka en kvart million danskere interesserer sig for hjemløse Serie A – Mediawatch
Nordics: High viewer interest in unclaimed Serie A rights – Advanced Television
One million Nordic interested in Serie A, but rights go unsold – Broadband TV News
Norge på topp på strømming, men globale aktører løper ifra – Medier24
Pirat-tv ökar i Norden – fem miljoner tittar illegalt – SVT Nyheter
Pirat-tv ökar i Norden: ”Sverige har en tradition” – Sveriges Radio
Ti prosent av norske hjem strømmer ulovlig ifølge ny undersøkelse – Kampanje
Industry Events
Northern Waves: 24th October, Oslo, Norway**
Stockholm Film Festival: 6-17th November, Stockholm, Sweden
* Mediavision will attend
** Mediavision will present