The OTT service will be available on Comcast’s Xfinity platforms, offering Viaplay Originals and third-party Nordic films and series.
Premium Nordic streaming service Viaplay will launch in the US on 15 December and offer viewers a unique line-up of top-class Nordic entertainment, including US exclusives of award-winning Viaplay Originals and high-quality acquired films and series from one of the world’s most successful creative regions.
The service will be initially available on Comcast’s entertainment devices, including Xfinity X1, Xfinity Flex and the recently announced XClass TV.
Viaplay will be available as an add-on subscription, priced at US$4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. Viaplay’s US launch takes its global footprint to 10 countries, with at least six more set to follow by the end of 2023 at the latest.
At launch, Viaplay will host more than 1,100 hours of premium Nordic series and films, both new and classic, with a focus on thrillers, drama and young adult content. Viewers can look forward to at least one premiere every week, with Viaplay aiming to release at least 60 Originals in 2022.
Content highlights at launch include:
– Viaplay Originals: thrillers such as Partisan starring Fares Fares (Chernobyl), winner of Best Series at Canneseries 2020, and the Edgar Award-nominated Wisting (acclaimed by The Guardian in the UK as “the best Nord-noir ever”); dramas like Love Me, currently being remade by Warner Bros., and Pørni; and hit young adult shows including Delete Me, Two Sisters, A Class Apart and Threesome.
– Third-party Nordic films and series: acclaimed titles such as Charter (Sweden’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Oscars), Exit (winner of the International Panorama prize at Series Mania), Snow Angels, Thin Blue Line, Grow, A Royal Secret, Into the Darkness, Liberty, Journal 64, The Legacy and more.
– A range of exclusive documentary series will also be available at launch, with many more to come. All Viaplay content in the US will have English subtitles.
Anders Jensen, NENT Group President and CEO: “Our small corner of Europe produces some of the world’s most compelling stories. We create special shows that have both style and substance, and that have been embraced by audiences and critics. At the same time, Hollywood stars like Mads Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander have helped put the Nordic region even more firmly on the map. There is a receptive audience of Nordic drama fans waiting in the US for Viaplay’s unique offering, which will bring the best of Nordic storytelling to the world’s most dynamic streaming market.”
Viaplay intends to launch a direct-to-consumer app in the US in due course.
Of the 130 million households in the US, over 80% currently subscribe to a streaming service, with an average of three subscriptions per streaming household.
Viaplay will launch in the Netherlands on 1 March 2022 and in the UK during the second half of next year, with Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland set to follow by the end of 2023 at the latest.
