ViaPlay in a bit of financial trouble?

[tian447]

From an admittedly unknown source: https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/crunch-week-for-viaplay/

 

"Following rumours that Viaplay may withdraw from some countries to focus on its core Nordic markets, the company has said it will not be able to make any further comments until the 20th July announcement. There’s been some speculation that it may either sub-licence or hand back some sports rights it’s acquired across Europe.

 

Some of Viaplay’s current operating losses (325m Swedish Krona, approximately £24.1m) are due to upscaling its operations in the UK and launching a service in the USA and Canada."

 

Their CEO has resigned: https://www.viaplaygroup.com/news/news-releases/viaplay-group-downgrades-outlook-2023-and-appoints-new-ceo and it's been reported for a while that they are pretty much humped: https://www.digitaltveurope.com/comment/the-factors-behind-viaplays-sudden-fall-from-grace/

 

Anyone else take out that yearly subscription a couple of weeks ago as well?

 

Surely Doncaster will have some compensation safety net in place for the National Team and Scottish Cup rights and it won't end up screwing those of us who paid for it over. No doubt we'll end up paying them...! 

Edited July 15, 2023 by tian447

[Sooks]

They are totally shite . Old Firm TV in this country 

[GinRummy]

Good. 

[tartofmidlothian]

5 minutes ago, tian447 said:

 

Anyone else take out that yearly subscription a couple of weeks ago as well?

 

 

Glad I didn't now!

 

Hey, at least we might get the national team on council telly at last.

[OTT]

1 minute ago, Sooks said:

They are totally shite . Old Firm TV in this country 

 

As bad as Sky. 

 

We really need a broadcaster that wants to build the brand up, not just cater squarely to the bigots in the west. 

[Sooks]

Just now, OTT said:

 

As bad as Sky. 

 

We really need a broadcaster that wants to build the brand up, not just cater squarely to the bigots in the west. 

Yip , Hopefully free streaming caused it and hopefully SKY are next 

[Homme]

Oh well.

[Fort Vallance]

Took out the £59 sub for a year a while ago. Probably had my moneys worth already. If it folds I won't lose any sleep. The worry is that since the governing bodies here can't be trusted to either compensate or source a replacement deal a lot of smaller clubs could be hit badly.  Don't  get the hate for the broadcasters. If you don't like it don't *** take it.

Edited July 15, 2023 by Fort Vallance
Addition.

[davemclaren]

14 minutes ago, Sooks said:

Yip , Hopefully free streaming caused it and hopefully SKY are next 

Without someone paying for the product there will be no stream to steal. 

[Jambo-Fox]

3 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Without someone paying for the product there will be no stream to steal. 

Surely HeartsTV get it for free?

[Thomaso]

25 minutes ago, Sooks said:

They are totally shite . Old Firm TV in this country 

This

[Sooks]

2 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Without someone paying for the product there will be no stream to steal. 

Yip . Who is that going to affect worse the leagues get billions from them and have gigantic wage bills or the leagues who are more dependent on crowds ? Hyper inflation of the market is killing Scottish football . We would survive , I hope the entire English set up dies and has to reform as some thing more like a genuine football league . Luton and Plymouth as giants of the game ? Do me a favour 

[Mr Elwood P]

33 minutes ago, tian447 said:

From an admittedly unknown source: https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/crunch-week-for-viaplay/

 

"Following rumours that Viaplay may withdraw from some countries to focus on its core Nordic markets, the company has said it will not be able to make any further comments until the 20th July announcement. There’s been some speculation that it may either sub-licence or hand back some sports rights it’s acquired across Europe.

 

Some of Viaplay’s current operating losses (325m Swedish Krona, approximately £24.1m) are due to upscaling its operations in the UK and launching a service in the USA and Canada."

 

Their CEO has resigned: https://www.viaplaygroup.com/news/news-releases/viaplay-group-downgrades-outlook-2023-and-appoints-new-ceo and it's been reported for a while that they are pretty much humped: https://www.digitaltveurope.com/comment/the-factors-behind-viaplays-sudden-fall-from-grace/

 

Anyone else take out that yearly subscription a couple of weeks ago as well?

 

Surely Doncaster will have some compensation safety net in place for the National Team and Scottish Cup rights and it won't end up screwing those of us who paid for it over. No doubt we'll end up paying them...! 

Just a 3 month reduced price contract here ....

Edited July 15, 2023 by Mr Elwood P

[John Findlay]

Setanta MKII.

[Newton51]

22 minutes ago, John Findlay said:

Setanta MKII.

Definitely. Premier sports were the new brand under the same owners and were about to go the same way before Viaplay took them over. I bought the annual plan a few months ago. Maybe games like raith Dunfermline earlier not the money earner they thought

[The White Cockade]

38 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Without someone paying for the product there will be no stream to steal. 

Exactamundo

[Sooks]

Sextants we’re doing fine until they tried to compete with the big boys for the Premier League . When they were showing SPL games they were getting good audiences and giving us decent cash . They were miles better than SKY and we even got more Hearts games on during the season where we finished second in 2005 / 6 . I think at one stage they even changed the planned Rangers or Celtic game to show us because we were in the title race at that point . They offered more than SKY and we took it , so SKY took the huff and offered us a pittance when they go involved again . Setanta should have just not bothered with the EPL

[Sooks]

2 minutes ago, The White Cockade said:

Exactamundo

I know this . I have zero interest in a league that has destroyed European football through being given far too much money . The hyper inflation has ruined the game up here because we get hardly any cash and now can not compete with smaller clubs than ourselves for players . The fact they are based in the UK does not help either because we are seen as a region . Other countries get national broadcaster deals worth more than our regional one , but it is fine because we get to watch shite like Luton and Plymouth with players on 30 grand a week and above on the same package

 

**** SKY . If TV football goes kaboom then every one is affected , but clubs and leagues who rely more on crowds will survive better than those who suddenly have to find hundreds of millions to pay their players 

[colinmaroon]

Whatever happens, you can guarantee that Doncaster will screw up any attempt to deal with the problem. 

[Daveandal]

I think the slight difference is that Via Play are big hitters in Scandinavia and the Baltics. (Geographically Scotland makes sense as a market for them.)

 

If they are in the poop we'll not really be given another thought. Rangers and Celtic maybe aren't the cash cow people think they are.

 

 

[skacel103]

1 minute ago, Sooks said:

I know this . I have zero interest in a league that has destroyed European football through being given far too much money . The hyper inflation has ruined the game up here because we get hardly any cash and now can not compete with smaller clubs than ourselves for players . The fact they are based in the UK does not help either because we are seen as a region . Other countries get national broadcaster deals worth more than our regional one , but it is fine because we get to watch shite like Luton and Plymouth with players on 30 grand a week and above on the same package

 

**** SKY . If TV football goes kaboom then every one is affected , but clubs and leagues who rely more on crowds will survive better than those who suddenly have to find hundreds of millions to pay their players 

Sky won't go bust ever. Even if they did another provider will emerge. Think we just need to accept we'll never get enough money to attract good players to the league. Doesn't help most clubs play hoof ball up here aswell. 

[Mikey1874]

Yes please 

[Sooks]

1 minute ago, Daveandal said:

I think the slight difference is that Via Play are big hitters in Scandinavia and the Baltics. (Geographically Scotland makes sense as a market for them.)

 

If they are in the poop we'll not really be given another thought. Rangers and Celtic maybe aren't the cash cow people think they are.

 

 

They definitely are not , and it is stupid to put all our eggs in their baskets . We need to grow the whole league and market it far better than just old firm games . Once other clubs improve with a bit of investment then suddenly you have some thing worth selling 

[Sooks]

1 minute ago, skacel103 said:

Sky won't go bust ever. Even if they did another provider will emerge. Think we just need to accept we'll never get enough money to attract good players to the league. Doesn't help most clubs play hoof ball up here aswell. 

They will eventually struggle to keep paying the amount they do to English football and subscriptions will drop as free and cheap alternatives proliferate . Same thing will happen to who ever picks up the coverage , as people will go for the cheap or free alternative if it is reliable . When that happens then are the players going to accept wage cuts in line with the deals no longer being as big 

[Lone Striker]

4 minutes ago, colinmaroon said:

Whatever happens, you can guarantee that Doncaster will screw up any attempt to deal with the problem. 

He'll probably hide behind one of his Sellick minders, like he did yesterday when the SPFL threw the towel in on the Rangers court case over CInch.  Not a peep from the man.  You have to admire the brass neck of McLennan on that one - something along the lines of  "we're delighted that this has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties"     

[skacel103]

5 minutes ago, Sooks said:

They will eventually struggle to keep paying the amount they do to English football and subscriptions will drop as free and cheap alternatives proliferate . Same thing will happen to who ever picks up the coverage , as people will go for the cheap or free alternative if it is reliable . When that happens then are the players going to accept wage cuts in line with the deals no longer being as big 

Can't see it myself 20 years ago yes but too much money kicking about these days. 

[Sooks]

Just now, skacel103 said:

Can't see it myself 20 years ago yes but too much money kicking about these days. 

The money comes from viewers though , both from advertising and subscriptions . If IPTV and free streaming sites continue to grow and improve their coverage , then more and more people will stop paying subscriptions . The clubs have painted themselves in to a corner cash wise because they spend even more than they take in , despite the billions they are given . The top clubs are carrying debts in the billions now . What happens when there is no longer enough money to fund that ? They go bang 

 

I hope IPTV goes from strength to strength world wide and brings the whole obscene pile of shite to the ground 

[Daveandal]

10 minutes ago, Sooks said:

They definitely are not , and it is stupid to put all our eggs in their baskets . We need to grow the whole league and market it far better than just old firm games . Once other clubs improve with a bit of investment then suddenly you have some thing worth selling 

 

I know others on here don't like the young blogger phenomenon but if you look at some of their YouTube videos going to all different levels it shows how unique our game is. The comment section's are full of people from around the world praising Scotland.

 

The annoying thing is we can market it and make interesting stuff. Some of the VT stuff for a View from the Terrace and Alba is light years ahead of anything Sky have done for 25 years.

[Sooks]

1 minute ago, Daveandal said:

 

I know others on here don't like the young blogger phenomenon but if you look at some of their YouTube videos going to all different levels it shows how unique our game is. The comment section's are full of people from around the world praising Scotland.

 

The annoying thing is we can market it and make interesting stuff. Some of the VT stuff for a View from the Terrace and Alba is light years ahead of anything Sky have done for 25 years.

I agree with you , it could be marketed a lot better and we could at least almostcompete with the lower leagues in England and other small countries in Europe , but sadly we market our game as four old firm games and a probably cup final 

[Daveandal]

22 minutes ago, skacel103 said:

Sky won't go bust ever. Even if they did another provider will emerge. Think we just need to accept we'll never get enough money to attract good players to the league. Doesn't help most clubs play hoof ball up here aswell. 

 

Sky could go bust if Amazon and/or Apple decide to seriously move into the sports market.

 

The question we need to ask is why are our TV right worth so much less than similar sized countries. We do have a good product, we just don't sell it.

[Sooks]

That latest EFL deal a week or two after we extended our shite deal for five years was unforgivable in my book 

[liam11]

If they go under, should be taken as a lesson and the plans put in place to have the Scotland games on normal telly.

 

Will never happen though

[johnking123]

That would be such a shame if they went bust.

[Sooks]

20 minutes ago, liam11 said:

If they go under, should be taken as a lesson and the plans put in place to have the Scotland games on normal telly.

 

Will never happen though

Normal telly never bothered their arse to bid for the Scotland games . They made sure they had the England games right enough …………. National domestic broadcasters eh ? Dont really work for regions do they 

[H2]

They won't be missed.

[Jambo61]

2 hours ago, tartofmidlothian said:

 

Glad I didn't now!

 

Hey, at least we might get the national team on council telly at last.

Nah.....only the english get wall to wall footie, even for those identifying as women only!

You pay your licence fee/ sky whatever and as usual subsidise the englander and Gary!

[David McCaig]

3 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Without someone paying for the product there will be no stream to steal. 

FTA + advertising 

[tian447]

3 hours ago, John Findlay said:

Setanta MKII.

 

That's the exact tag that I chose for the topic when I created it

 

Can't seem to see them on mobile though. Should be just under the topic title. 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by tian447

[tian447]

I haven't really used enough of the subscription to form an opinion on them as a broadcaster. I did like that you could watch all of the European international matches in one place, and found myself just having the channel on and watching whoever happened to be playing qualifiers at the time. 

 

I do think it's mental that the Scottish Cup and National Team matches all got outsourced to some Internet streaming company that no-one had actually heard of until they had it.  I'm willing to bet that not one poster on here had a subscription to it until they found out that there were going to be Scottish matches on it. 

 

Ultimately, if they do pull out or go under, we'll just get shafted with someone else you've never heard of.  That, or Doncaster will trailblaze a brilliant deal with Bet365 where you can watch the matches for free (as long as you stake a £20 bet on the game first). That's the sort of nonsense I've come to expect from them. 

[Sooks]

See when Abramovich bought Chelsea off Bates , was it 100 million he put aside as a safety net ? I am sure that was the figure . A guarantee that they would never be at risk with that money held in reserve ………… it would not even touch the sides now a days  

 

 

[Rocky jamboa]

I wonder how much we made from our PPV games last season?? For me, that's the way to go. Follow the US baseball model where you subscribe to an SPL chanel and can watch any game live. It didn't affect the attendances for our PPV channels. Keeps the money in scottish football. Or Hearts to go it alone and allow Hearts TV to broadcast all our games live. I reckon that would be more lucrative than crappy via sports.

[D4nny_]

4 hours ago, Sooks said:

They are totally shite . Old Firm TV in this country 

This

[Sooks]

13 minutes ago, Rocky jamboa said:

I wonder how much we made from our PPV games last season?? For me, that's the way to go. Follow the US baseball model where you subscribe to an SPL chanel and can watch any game live. It didn't affect the attendances for our PPV channels. Keeps the money in scottish football. Or Hearts to go it alone and allow Hearts TV to broadcast all our games live. I reckon that would be more lucrative than crappy via sports.

I also think this would be a good way to go . We would make money and still keep our full houses 

[Naisys Tackle]

4 hours ago, John Findlay said:

Setanta MKII.

Setantas partners with Setanta oirland and thats where their feeds come from ironically.

[kevin_hmfc]

Football back on the BBC as per the mark de Vries game era. 

[kevin_hmfc]

It's better for the consumer if there are less TV companies.  This prem sport and vialplay were already part of a crowded market. 

 

 

Caught one of their shabby attempts to be woke with 2 clueless female commentators blaring in a pub I was in. Guy behind the bar had to put it on mutr much to the relief of everyone.   Why do they insist on doing that? Spoils any hope of a good match experience. 🤷

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

Folk don't want expensive subscriptions 

 

Folk want better tv deals. 

 

Folk have to realise the two need to marry up.

 

You need tv money to improve the quality, but yet people want to bite the hand that feeds them. 

 

BBC deal for example would send us back 20 years likely 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Lord Beni of Gorgie

[Bull's-eye]

SKY is brilliant, that's the model to follow. If you can't compete, you fail.

[jamboozy]

11 hours ago, colinmaroon said:

Whatever happens, you can guarantee that Doncaster will screw up any attempt to deal with the problem. 

My thoughts exactly, the guy is a shameless parasite.

[John Findlay]

45 minutes ago, Lord Beni of Gorgie said:

Folk don't want expensive subscriptions 

 

Folk want better tv deals. 

 

Folk have to realise the two need to marry up.

 

You need tv money to improve the quality, but yet people want to bite the hand that feeds them. 

 

BBC deal for example would send us back 20 years likely 

A better TV deal is not just about more money. The EPL is sold and promoted as a Twenty team league. The SPL is sold and promoted as a Two team league and not a Twelve team league, and this has to change, and change now.