NENT puts unscripted arm sale on hold

Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group has suspended the sale of its unscripted arm and scrapped a number of development projects in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its business.

Anders Jensen

In addition to putting the sale plans on hold and cancelling or postponing “non-essential” development projects, the company has cancelled executive incentive plans and moved to lower its sales and marketing spending.

NENT assured employees that it was not planning staff cuts, with the group having restructured its management last year.

In a statement, the company said: “Following the group reorganisation in recent months in order to set the business right for the future, there is no intention to reduce permanent staffing levels, but freelance and consultant costs are being reduced and new hires are only being made for essential positions.

“All non-essential travel and entertainment has been cancelled and the group expects to make even greater use of its existing remote access, sharing and conferencing facilities for the foreseeable future.

“The measures being taken are intended to protect staff, business continuity and the future potential of the operations when the current crisis comes to an end.”

NENT also revealed that its viewing figures have continued to rise after implementing its initial Covid-19 measures earlier last week, when it introduced temporary price reductions to streaming service Viaplay’s sports package. The total minutes viewed and total started streams by non-sports subscribers jumped 24% and 25%, respectively, between Monday and Wednesday last week when compared with the same period the previous week. TVoD consumption was also up 92% between Monday and Wednesday compared with the previous week, with all categories increasing.

NENT is also going ahead with the launch of Viaplay in Iceland this spring as previously planned.

Anders Jensen, NENT Group president and CEO, said: “Our top priorities are the wellbeing of our employees and continuing to deliver the best possible value to our customers.

“The measures that we are now taking are all about ensuring the long-term health and potential of what drives our business – our people, our content and our technology. The viewing, listening and streaming KPIs for our entertainment services are very encouraging, as people spend more and more time with us.”

NENT claims to be in a stable financial position with SEK3.3bn (US$315m) of undrawn credit facilities and cash reserves of SEK 1.2bn.

The company has no confirmed instances of Covid-19 amongst its staff and has implemented wide-ranging security and safety initiatives to protect and communicate with its workforce.