NENT Group ‘stands apart’ among broadcasters taking on streaming giants

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group) stands on its own as an example of a broadcaster successfully making the transition to online media and competing with SVOD giants thanks to its strong content assets and – in particular – its “high-quality sports right portfolio”, according to analysts at Berenberg.

Berenberg is highly positive about the prospects for NENT Group’s streaming offerings, thanks to its studio content deals, its own original productions and its sports rights. Of the latter, it observes that the long-term nature of agreements “also insulates the company from near-term cost inflation risk”.

“We have often expressed reservations about the feasibility of European broadcasters competing with the large US players in the SVOD arena. In NENT’s case, however, the quality and diversity of its content sets the Viaplay platform apart from the rest,” said the analysts.

Berenberg concurs with NENT CEO Anders Jensen in believing that there is still scope for growth in the highly competitive Nordic streaming market and has pencilled in an estimated compound annual growth rate of 16% for Viaplay, NENT Group’s streaming platform. The analysts believe that Viaplay will grow by 12% this year, with take-up muted by the loss of some sports rights and strong growth last year.

Berenberg is also bullish about NENT Group’s recently announced plans for international expansion, where it believes that “by catering to theidentified attributes of each target market, Viaplay can thrive (for example, avid support for the Bundesliga in Poland, for which NENT has secured the exclusive rights).”

NENT Group last week unveiled plans to rollout streaming services in 10 international markets by the end of 2023, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the US in 2021.

By the end of 2025, NENT Group aims to increase its subscriber base to approximately 10.5 million by more than doubling its Viaplay paying subscriber base in the Nordics to approximately six million, and growing its international subscriber base to approximately 4.5 million.

As part of the plan, NENT Group has secured the exclusive rights to show German Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 football in Poland after a four-year deal that runs until the 2024-25 season was agreed with Bundesliga International, a subsidiary of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga.