Elisa Viihde Viaplay to launch next month

Viaplay original The Last Journey of the Vikings

Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group and Finnish VoD company Elisa Viihde have set the launch date for their combined streaming service in Finland.

Elisa Viihde Viaplay will be available in Finland from December 3 and comes after the two firms announced plans to combine their streaming services earlier this year.

Priced at €12.99 (US$15.12) per month, Elisa Viihde Viaplay combines original series and domestic movies from Elisa Viihde’s Aitio platform with Nordic drama, international films and series, and children’s content from NENT’s Viaplay.

Customers of Viaplay’s films and series package and Elisa Viihde Aitio have had access to the additional service since 30 June.

NENT Group will be responsible for Elisa Viihde Viaplay’s technology and analytics, while Elisa will handle sales, marketing and customer support. Both parties will continue to invest in content for the streamer, the two companies said.

Alongside the combined service, an Elisa Viihde Viaplay ‘total’ package priced at €34.99 per month will offer Viaplay’s premium sports content, including Premier League and Bundesliga football and NHL and KHL hockey.

NENT Group has full ownership of all Viaplay sports content and remains responsible for all related sports marketing and production activities in Finland.

Kim Poder, NENT Group chief commercial officer, said: “We see considerable growth potential in Finland and will continue investing in content for the Finnish market. Bringing Elisa Viihde Viaplay to Finnish viewers together with Elisa will help us realise our ambitions even faster.”

Ani Korpela, content director at Elisa Viihde, added: “We will continue to focus strongly on quality domestic drama and comedy as well as Finnish movies. Moreover, it is great soon to be able to offer our customers Viaplay’s leading Nordic drama content, international movies and series, and kids’ content.”

NENT Group released its first Finnish original, Cold Courage, in May 2020 and is set to premiere at least 40 Nordic and international original productions during 2021.

Elisa is one of the largest producers of Finnish drama, with 20 originals premiered to date. Titles include the internationally distributed original series Arctic Circle, All the Sins, Shadow Lines and Bullets.

In related news, NENT Studios UK has sold The Last Journey of the Vikings (4×60′) to Rai in Italy, GEO Television (RTL) in Germany, Discovery in Spain and SBS in Australia.

Produced by Mopar Studios and filmed in Ireland, The Last Journey of the Vikings is a Viaplay original and has been coproduced by NENT Group, France Télévisions and NENT Studios UK.

The documentary series examines the Vikings’ reasons for leaving Scandinavia and traces their adventures and advancements through to France, where they eventually swapped brutality for diplomacy.

Elin Thomas, NENT Studios UK’s executive VP of sales, said: “With scripted content about Vikings proving enduringly popular, we anticipate that these sales will be the first of many, as broadcasters and streamers look to share the incredible true story alongside the fiction.”