The Scandinavian-based Viaplay streaming service is set to mark its US debut in February 2023. The service is already available in a number of European countries and will provide consumers in the United States with another option for streaming popular international shows and movies.
Technically, Viaplay is already available to consumers in the US, considering the option to purchase a subscription through Comcast’s Xfinity platform has been available since late last year. However, the rolling out of the direct-to-consumer solution in the US in 2023 will make access to the streaming service more broadly available.
Viaplay has fairly grand expansion ambitions, and while on track in general, the most recent announcement confirms somewhat of a slowing down of those ambitions due to the wider market conditions. According to the press release, the company is “implementing a cost savings and investment deferral” program which will limit the launch of the streaming service in 2023 to the US in February and Canada in March.
Other launches that were due to take place next year will still go ahead, just at a later date than originally expected. Overall, the company says it is already “halfway towards our 12 million Viaplay subscriber target.” According to its latest figures, Viaplay now caters to 6.4 million subscribers, a number which it expects to grow to 7.3 million by the end of 2022, and to 9 million by the end of next year.
In terms of what consumers in the US can expect when Viaplay becomes more readily available, this is a streaming service that comes with a specific focus on Nordic and international content, including original series, documentaries and movies. The service is already available to stream on a number of popular platforms including Amazon Fire TV, Android/Google TV, and Apple TV. With wide support for smart TVs, streaming players, smartphones, and game consoles, finding a device to watch on shouldn’t be too much of a problem when the service goes live in the US next year.
