Anders Jensen has stepped down as CEO of Scandinavian media group Viaplay after a lousy quarter that saw advertising sales slump and subscriber figures dip.
Jensen, who is credited with Viaplay’s aggressive move into original production and a streaming-first focus as the Nordic company, is leaving after five years as CEO and will be replaced by Jorgen Madsen Lindemann, the ex-CEO of Viaplay’s former parent company MTG.
Viaplay announced Jensen’s resignation early Monday morning after it posted second-quarter results that showed the company booked an operating (EBIT) loss of between $23.1 million and $27.7 million (200 million – 300 million Swedish Krona) on expected sales of between 4.5 billion – 4.6 billion Swedish Krona ($415 million – $420 million).
It was bad news all round. Advertising sales dropped double digits, with ad revenues projected to be down between 12 percent and 16 percent on an organic basis, due to the “sharp and rapid deterioration in the TV and radio advertising markets,” the streaming and pay-TV business is slumping with “lower demand in the Nordic and international streaming D2C subscriber markets and lower wholesale subscription sales by linear distribution partners.” And cost cuts at the company have been slow to deliver the expected savings.
The situation is so dire, Viplay has withdrawn its 2025 operating and financial targets and will provide a new medium-term outlook on July 20.
“In the light of current challenges, the company is best served if I step down, and I have therefore decided to do so,” Jensen said in a statement. “I wish the company and the team the very best in the future.”
Jensen had bet big on the future of streaming and original programming at Viaplay, aggressively ramping up in-house productions — the company just greenlight a new drama series from Snabba Cash author Jens Lapidus — and snatching up costly sports rights for its premium services. Jensen also had international ambitions, launching a version of its Nordic streaming service in the U.K. last year and in the U.S. in February.
