It is a pressured media industry, and Viaplay is no exception. According to information to Aftonbladet, the streaming service must save between 25 and 30 million kronor in 2025.
I don't think there's a media company in Europe that hasn't had to lower its content budget a bit ahead of 2025, says Erik Westberg.
Part of the cut budget, writes Aftonbladet, consists of increasingly scrapping the classic TV studio before various competitions and matches.
"More proximity"
Erik Westberg confirms that it may happen. But not that it would have to do with money. According to him, it's more about wanting to move program leaders and experts closer to the athletes.
Take "Viaplay Winter" now, for example, where we went from being in a basement in Stockholm to instead being on site with (Niklas) Jihde, (Johanna) Ojala, and the gang. Which we think has given incredibly much more proximity that has been greatly appreciated by our viewers, says Westberg.
This type of solution has also been seen in last week's broadcasts from the men's Champions League football.
"Shiny floor"
We're making some adjustments now, such as during the Champions League where we tested being on site. Richard Henriksson and Bojan (Djordjic) stood by the sideline instead. We also think that's a studio. But it's not a "shiny floor" studio.
So you're maybe removing a classic moment in that way?
It won't just disappear, but then it will be replaced with something else. Because we see viewer behavior, that you want things directly. We look at Formula 1, for example, that we might have a framing already on Sunday morning. When it's been days with training and qualifying, maybe you should be able to go into Viaplay already on Sunday morning and get everything before the race in the afternoon.
Is a traditional studio broadcast too boring for many viewers nowadays?
I still think it has its place for certain rights at certain times. But I think we'll see a much greater variation going forward where the viewer wants a bit more pace, a bit more emotions, and more proximity, definitely.
