NENT GROUP TO SHIFT STREAMING REGISTRATIONS, BROADCAST LICENSING TO SWEDEN

Nordic Entertainment Group announced plans to move the registrations for its streaming platforms and the broadcast licenses for its TV channels to Sweden from the UK, beginning on 1 January 2021. “We are very pleased to welcome NENT Group to Sweden,” Charlotte Ingvar-Nilsson, Director-General, MPRT, said. “NENT Group has a successful track record in attracting Nordic viewers and we are looking forward to working together.”

The move ensures NENT Group’s services will remain available to viewers after the expected withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU). It is now guaranteed that the offerings will be regulated by the Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority for the first time in NENT Group’s history.

Viaplay is currently available in five Nordic countries, with the three Baltic states to come from early 2021, and NENT Group aims to add a further 15 countries in the next five years. “We are an innovative, fast-growing, values-driven international company with Nordic DNA and, naturally, we are regulated in a Nordic country,” Anders Jensen, NENT Group President & CEO, said. “We enjoy a good working relationship with the Swedish authorities and this decision reflects our commitment to the Nordic region and its world-class creative sector."

NENT Group’s new Swedish registrations and licenses will cover its Viaplay and Viafree streaming services, V pay-TV channels, and TV channels. The service offers a wide selection of original productions, international films and series, kids content, and live sports, and NENT Group expects to reach 3 million Viaplay subscribers by the end of 2020.

NENT Group’s offerings are currently regulated by Ofcom in the UK under the principle of its country of origin. The principle, which forms part of EU law, allows media companies to offer services across the EU whilst being regulated in one EU jurisdiction. The country of origin principle will no longer apply in the UK at the end of the Brexit transitional period on 1 January 2021. “This move will ensure the continued availability of our content to viewers across the region and beyond,” Jensen said. “We now have a stable long-term regulatory foundation from which we will embark on our ambitious and exciting international expansion.”