Viaplay’s third-quarter ad result is a small dip with a bigger message: digital is catching up, but it is not replacing linear TV revenue one-for-one yet.
The numbers behind the slip
Advertising brought in SEK 766 million in the three months to September 30, compared with SEK 752 million a year earlier. In reported Swedish kronor that is a 1.9% rise, but after stripping out SEK 18 million in currency effects the underlying result is a 0.6% organic decline.
The quarter was always going to be soft. Viaplay describes Q3 as its weakest advertising period, and this year the men’s FIFA World Cup was shown by competitors. The comparison was also flattered in 2025 by coverage of the UEFA Women’s European Championship, which boosted audience shares.
Digital up, linear down
Viaplay did not split digital and linear ad revenue, but the direction is clear from the report. Digital ad impressions grew strongly across every market, while linear TV advertising continued its structural decline. CEO Jørgen Lindemann summed it up as total ad sales “down less than 1% on an organic basis,” according to the earnings call transcript.
- Sweden (ages 30–64): 20.3% commercial viewing share, down from 22.8%.
- Norway (ages 30–69): 15.3%, down from 18.6%.
- Denmark (ages 30–60): 16.0%, down from 18.4%.
Radio’s commercial share of listening moved the other way: 48.1% in Sweden, up from 40.3%, and 70.2% in Norway, up from 68.7%. Yet the higher listening shares did not translate into higher radio ad revenue.
Why media buyers should care
Viaplay is one of the few public lenses into Nordic video and audio budgets. The pattern matches what other European broadcasters have reported: linear TV spend is leaking while digital grows, but not quickly enough to close the revenue gap.
For planners, the practical lesson is not to read media lines in isolation. If digital growth cannot offset linear erosion, a flat overall number can hide two very different stories. Q4 is the strongest advertising quarter and a much cleaner demand signal.
Advertising made up about 15% of core operation net sales in the quarter, down from 16% in Q2. Full-year core EBITDA guidance was held at SEK 1.0 billion to SEK 1.4 billion, a number that matters to the whole market because it signals how Viaplay manages costs while ad revenue stays soft.
What stays stable
Streaming subscription sales grew 3.5% organically to SEK 2,060 million, and total subscribers held around 4.3 million. Allente’s satellite bundles now include Viaplay alongside competitors such as HBO Max and SkyShowtime, keeping the streaming service in more households even as linear viewing share falls.
Viaplay kept its full-year targets unchanged, and the next report arrives February 18, 2027.
Source: PPC Land
