Newsletter 29th of March

NEWSLETTER

29 March 2023

 

The main topics this week:

  • Bonnier News becomes majority shareholder of Readly
  • Netflix announces premiere dates for two new Swedish originals
  • TV4 grabs rights for popular TV show from SVT

MARKETS

Bonnier News becomes majority shareholder of Readly

 

On December 5th last year, Bonnier News made a public offer to buy the Swedish digital magazine subscription service Readly at SEK 12 per share in cash. By the end of January, the offer was raised to SEK 14.40 per share and after several extensions of the acceptance date, the final date was set to last Thursday, the 23rd of March.

 

As the last acceptance date now has expired, it is clear that Bonnier News did not achieve its ambition of buying 90 percent of the shares, which is needed to delist the company from Nasdaq Stockholm. However, Bonnier News is now the majority shareholder of Readly with 75,4 percent of the shares and according to Bonnier News’ CEO Anders Eriksson, the company will continue to try to reach 90 percent, which is needed to forcibly redeem the last shareholders to a delist.

 

“Readly has a strong and well-functioning product but has limited growth, lack of profitability and is in a situation with a limited cash register caused by several costly growth initiatives in recent years. Our assessment is therefore that the continued strategy should focus on the core business, with a reduced focus on growth, which is necessary to be able to secure a future for Readly, regardless of the form of ownership,” Eriksson continues.

 

Readly will soon call for an extra meeting of shareholders and elect a new board. “What the new board will look like is not quite clear, but the fact that there will be a new board is clear and feels natural in a situation like this”, according to Eriksson.

Insight: Nordic Media & Markets

This 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. Published biannually.

 

Apple considers bidding for Premier League streaming rights

 

Schibsted joins Poddindex

 

Rayo is Bauer Media’s new platform for radio and podcasts

 

Swedish startup Reedz launches fully AI powered publisher

 

NWT invests in local journalism with a two-year project

SVOD

Netflix announces premiere dates for two new Swedish originals

 

Netflix continues to invest in Nordic content. The streaming giant has now announced release dates for two new Swedish productions – one film and one drama series.

 

The new film, One More Time, is a dramedy with Hedda Stiernstedt in lead. Stiernstedt plays 40-year-old Amelia, who is hit by a truck the night of her birthday. She wakes up back in 2002, on her 18th birthday, with the chance to relive her best day and make her life the perfect vision of what she’d intended it to be. The film is written by Tove Forsman and Sofie Forsman, known from two other Swedish Netflix series, Young Royals and The Playlist. Jonatan Etzler is directing the film and the production company behind it is Breakable. One More Time premiers on Netflix the 21st of April.

 

Netflix’s new Swedish drama series is Barracuda Queens. Loosely inspired by true events, Barracuda Queens follows a group of young women in the 90s who commit crimes to rebel, seek thrills and get revenge on men that have done them wrong. The series stars Alva Bratt, Tindra Monsen, Sandra Zubovic, and Izabella Scorupco, among many others. The production company for the series is Asp Varhos and Amanda Adolfsson is the director. Barracuda Queens comes to Netflix the 8th of June.

Insight: Nordic TV & Streaming

This 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.

 

Apple reportedly plans to release Apple TV+ movies in theaters

 

Viaplay and SVT win big at Series Mania

 

Apple acquires a startup using AI to compress videos

 

Netflix announces a fifth and final season for hit series You

 

CBB Mobil launches combined streaming and mobile subscription

TV

TV4 grabs popular TV-show from SVT

 

Bäst i Test is one of the most popular TV shows in Sweden. It is based on the original British version Taskmaster, which has been sold to several countries, including Sweden. Since 2017, the show has been available on Swedish public service broadcaster, SVT. But after the seventh and current season, the show will no longer be available on SVT. The reason for this is a price hike for the rights from the British ownership company Avalon.

 

“We simply had to release Bäst i Test. The reason was that the British format owners suddenly demanded a price that we are unwilling and unable to pay. I’m talking about extreme money that we didn’t think was justified”, says SVT’s program director Eva Beckman. No exact numbers have been communicated, but according to Anton Glanzelius, program commissioner at SVT, the price was raised by several hundred percent.

 

The rights for the show have now been picked up by TV4. “We are very happy about the opportunity to take over Bäst i test, which is a fantastic format, and with it also the popular hosts Babben Larsson and David Sundin”, says Fredrik Arefalk, TV4’s channel and content director.

 

In 2019, the show won the Swedish award Kristallen for best program and the following year best entertainment program. The next season of the show will come to TV4 during next year.

Mediavision in the News

 

Marie Nilsson: Kontodelarna lever osäkert när streamingjättarna jagar intäkter – Dagens Media

 

Et stigende antal svenskere betaler for podcasts – Mediawatch

 

Sweden: Significant growth in podcast households – Advanced Television

 

TVOD in Sweden reaches record levels in 2022 – Broadband TV News

 

Netflix drag – så ska kontodelare jagas – Svenska Dagbladet

 

Stort tapp för nya poddar i världen – “Kärvare läge” – Sveriges Radio

 

Nordics: 3 million SVOD accounts are borrowed from other households – Piracy Monitor

Industry Events

 

MIPTV: 17-19 April 2023, Cannes, France

 

Nordic Media Days: 10-12 May 2023, Bergen, Norway

 
Stockholm Film Festival: 8-19 November 2023, Stockholm, Sweden

 

* Mediavision will attend
** Mediavision will present