Netflix launches in Scandinavia, takes first pay TV rights with Warner Bros

Netflix has launched in Denmark today and will roll out in Norway and Finland later this week. The streaming service has also secured a pan-Scandinavian programming deal with Warner Bros for the studio’s TV series and movies in the first pay TV window, DTVE sister publication TBI has learned.

The Warner Bros content previously resided with C More, the Scandinavian pay TV platform operator formerly known as Canal Plus.

Netflix launched in Sweden yesterday, Denmark today and will complete its Nordic roll out this week. The Danish service is priced at DKK79 (€10.60).

The US firm has inked region-wide content deals with CBS, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. and Sony. The agreement with Warner Bros is the only one for content in the first pay TV window and means Netflix will be the first place customers in the Nordic region can see the studio’s new programming on TV.

Netflix has also inked deals with a raft of local and international distributors including BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Shine International, Nordisk Film, Scanbox, Svensk Filmindustri and Non Stop Entertainment.

C More meanwhile said this morning that it has inked a subscription video-on-demand deal with Svensk Filmindustri, which gives its a range of Swedish and international films and TV series. The pay TV operator has renewed a raft of its studio output deals in recent months. It has inked new deals with HBO, Fox, NBCUniversal, MGM, Paramount Pictures and Sony this year.

The deals with Fox, MGM and Paramount give C More content in the first pay TV window. The NBCUniversal and Sony agreements are for films and series in the second pay window. It also still has some Warner Bros. content, a spokesman added.

C More has attempted to heads off Netflix with Filmnet, a film-based streaming service that it runs in conjunction with TV4 and Bonnier. It is currently available for an introductory price of SEK49 (€5.65) a month and the regular price of the service will be SEK129.

Competition for content and customers in Scandinavia is fierce with HBO also launching its own branded OTT service, HBO Nordic, this month. It will be a joint venture between the Time Warner-owned broadcaster and Parsifal International. HBO Nordic and C More share content under the terms of a co-excusive programming deal.

Other Nordic OTT services include Modern Times Group’s Viaplay, Amazon’s Lovefilm and Voddler, an ad-based service that launched a premium offering last year.

The Viaplay service is available on various connected devices, including PCs, smartphones, tablets and Smart TVs, and via the Viaplay OTT set-top box in Sweden. MTG has now made the service available to PlayStation 3 users in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and earlier this month also launched a ‘download-to-go’ service making Viaplay content available to download for 30 days on Apple devices.

Netflix’s Swedish service, launched yesterday, will be available for SEK79 and will include content from the same range of content providers. Both services will also include a ‘Just for Kids’ section featuring a range of kids content such as High School Musical 1 & 2 and Babar.