Viaplay announced its reorganization plans Thursday morning during the presentation of the second quarter numbers. The company, which employs 1,500 people worldwide, is laying off a quarter of its staff and leaving the Baltic countries, Britain, the United States, Canada and Poland. For now, the company will remain in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Despite all the interventions, the streaming service urgently needs to meet with lenders to stay afloat and taking over the entire company is a serious option. “All options are open,” said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, CEO of Viaplay. Last year, Viaplay made a profit of 60 million euros in the first half of the year. Now, in the first half of 2023, he has lost more than 560 million euros.

The press meeting made it clear how serious the problems at the streaming service were. Expected worldwide subscription growth failed to materialize. Ad revenue in Scandinavia has also been disappointing. The first alarming reports came out earlier this month. The site reports that Viaplay has canceled four Dutch drama series, including the prestigious project by bestselling author Saskia Noort. There have also been layoffs in the entertainment arm of Viaplay Netherlands. The office in Amsterdam is now closed. Only the sports department at Hilversum is still standing, in slim form. This is where broadcasts about Formula 1 are made, among others, by presenter Amber Brantsen. Exactly how many layoffs occurred in the Netherlands is unknown.

One of the reorganization plans – apart from the departure of Viaplay in several countries – is the sale of sub-licences. To reduce high fees, certain sports rights may be shared with other channels. “Viaplay can bring darts back to RTL and English football, the Premier League, to Ziggo Sport. They will be more careful about sharing the Formula 1 picture. If they place it with a linear channel, they will also lose a lot of customers, which they really need,” replied sports marketer Chris Woerts.

Viaplay has been broadcasting Formula 1 in the Netherlands since 2022. Through parent company Nent, it took over the rights from Ziggo Sport. This contract will expire at the end of next year. VodafoneZiggo will avail the rights to bring Formula 1 back to Ziggo Sport. Viaplay increases fees for subscribers several times. It started in 2022 with ten dollars, but a subscription now costs 16 euros. Viaplay has 6.6 million subscribers worldwide. Despite all the dismal numbers, the company still hopes to grow this year.

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