HBO joins the on-demand TV fight in the Nordic region

HBO is launching a multiplatform TV service in the Nordic territories, placing it directly in competition with the likes of Voddler and LoveFilm as well as Netflix, which yesterday announced it is launching service in the region.


HBO said it was launching a “multi-platform video distribution venture”, without clarifying exactly what that would be. It has already launched online catch-up service HBO Go in some central and eastern European territories, but not in western Europe.

The Nordic service will be operated as a joint venture with Sweden-based Parsifal International. Parsifal Sport runs the Finnish TV channel URHOtv, which started out in 2009 as a sports broadcaster but expanded its offering to include movies. It is distributed as a linear channel as well as online and on mobile devices.

HBO said more details of its new service would be revealed in Sweden at the end of the month.

“HBO is delighted to be entering into a new marketplace and a promising partnership with Parsifal International,” said Simon Sutton, president, HBO International and content distribution.

“I am very proud and excited to be a partner with HBO”, said Peter Ekelund, owner of Parsifal International. “The Nordic pay TV market has a tremendous growth potential for new innovative services which respond to the existing shifts in consumer viewing habits on multiple screens. Parsifal will bring its expertise in the distribution of pay TV services on multiple platforms.”

Separately, HBO has renewed a US output deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, giving it a raft of the studio’s movies.