Lindemann to take over as Viaplay president as Anders Jensen steps down

Anders Jensen is stepping down as CEO of Scandinavian streamer Viaplay Group and will be replaced by Jorgen Madsen Lindemann.

Anders Jensen

Jensen has been the CEO of Viaplay Group since it was formed as an independent company in 2018.

Lindemann is the former CEO of MTG, which is the previous parent company of Viaplay Group. Prior to heading the group, Madsen held various senior leadership positions at MTG for more than 26 years, including head of the Nordic operations and international operations and head of sports rights acquisition and production.

“Given the current challenges, I believe the company is best served by my leaving and I have therefore decided to do so. I wish the company and the team the very best in the future,” Jensen said in a statement.

Jensen’s departure follows Viaplay Group announcing a downgrade of its short-term outlook for 2023.

This has been caused by lower demand in the Nordic and international SVoD markets, lower subscription sales among linear partners and the declining Scandi TV and radio advertising markets.

In the second quarter, the group expects a closing subscriber balance of 7.7 million, sales of between SEK4.5bn (US$415m) and SEK4.6bn and EBIT before ACI and IAC of SEK250m-300m. Advertising revenues are expected to be down by between 12% and 16% in Q2, due to the sharp and rapid deterioration in the TV and radio ad markets.

The rising cost of living is resulting in lower direct-to-consumer streaming and wholesale linear subs sales, as well as higher churn levels, following price increases.