NENT Group has upped NENT Sports Sweden’s Chief Operating Officer, Cecilia Gave, to Senior Vice President (SVP) and Group Head of its ad-free streaming service, Viafree.
Gave, who joined NENT Group in 2016, will now be responsible for the overall strategic, commercial and business development of Viafree and report to NENT Group President and CEO Anders Jensen.
Alexander Bastin, SVP and Chief Commercial Officer of NENT Group’s subscription streaming offering Viaplay, will now focus fully on the business strategy and commercial development of this service.
Viaplay Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, Jakob Mejlhede Andersen, will continue to lead Viaplay’s original production activities, while also managing NENT Group’s content acquisitions team.
“Viaplay and Viafree entertain millions of viewers across the Nordic region every day and have the potential to reach many millions more,” said NENT Group President and CEO, Anders Jensen.
“Cecilia has done a fantastic job at our sports organisation and I am very happy that she will now take on responsibility for Viafree, which is one of our most exciting services. This will enable Alexander to focus fully on realising the full commercial potential of Viaplay, while Jakob will ensure that we take our original storytelling to the next level.”
NENT Group, which recently completed its split from MTG, claims that the Viafree app has been downloaded more than three million times since its launch in 2016 and that more than one million users in Sweden have signed up since Viafree introduced mandatory log-in – something it plans to launch in Denmark, Norway and Finland in due course.
The AVOD service offers international films, series and kids content, as well as exclusive digital-first content, selected original Nordic drama, reality shows, comedy and live sports. NENT Group has pledged to premiere a minimum of 20 original series on Viaplay each year.
