WRITTEN BY: Per Laursen
Streamers commit to more scripted shows, and only talking about diversity in production “just isn't good enough”.
In unpredictable times, people often seek answers, and need their actions to serve a purpose. This is true for the television industry, its viewers, business models, etc. Hence, this year's theme at the Copenhagen TV Festival was: The Big Fat Why.
It has been a turbulent year in the media and TV industry, with movements and trends emerging from the international media and tech industries that will change the Nordic broadcasters, streamers, and production companies, TV guru Keld Reinicke said at his keynote address, which every year sets the scene for the Copenhagen TV Festival (August 26-27), attended by Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
"How do we define success for shows in the future? Where do we go to find new revenue streams in a production environment under pressure?" Reinicke asked, not offering any suggestions.
Against that backdrop, newly arrived streamer Max delivered some hard-hitting breaking news. The new streamer is ready to receive pitches for scripted shows for a 2026 Nordic slate.
Until now, Max, introduced in late May, has been less than clear about local ambitions. Press comments have centered on the big international shows and WBD’s linear channels in each market.
“After the WBD merger, we have been on a hiatus regarding scripted programming for the last couple of years, but now we are looking at scripted again,” Head of Nordic Content Pil Gundelach Brandstrup, Max, told attendees, including NFTVF.
Brandstrup said that Max is assessing what stories are out there, in both Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
“We are ramping up a pipeline for the 2026 slate and onwards. It will be a selected number of projects, that need to be comparable for each key market, to supplement our other content and make sense financially.”
On Max’s current slate is a new biker gang documentary, Gang War - Comanches (Brutalt Broderskab - Comanches), the comedy MILF of Norway, Ex on the Beach in local versions, and Swedish celebrity-oriented reality formats, such as Wahlgren’s World (Wahlgrens värld).
Brandstrup also offered insights on pitching successful ideas. She is not looking for big costume drama. The focus is the drama-thriller space rather than comedies.
“Pitch us your best project, either packaged deals or ideas, and we are open for a conversation,” she added.
The words from Prime Video's Nordic content manager Karin Lindström had a similarly optimistic tone as she unveiled Prime Video's updated strategy.
Prime’s Nordic focus has so far been on easily produced non-scripted, but times are changing.
Prime Video’s big news in Copenhagen was that Egmont-owned Nordisk Film Productions is co-producing Prime’s series Snake Killer, a police drama currently in early development, created by Anders Ølholm and starring Pilou Asbæk.
“In Snake Killer, we follow Copenhagen’s infamous drug squad,” she said.
The service made its fiction debut earlier this year with the drama series Bullshit, which it took over from crisis-hit Viaplay. Lindström said that the streamer plans to make more original Danish fiction series – preferably two per year.
“Come up with your best ideas, scripted or non-scripted, in any shape and form, even just one page,” Lindström said.
DR's Head of Drama Henriette Marienlund and TV 2's Head of Fiction Mette Nelund took the opportunity to address a difficult issue; not just talking about diversity in production, but delivering diversity on and off screen.
In an interview with producer Piv Bernth, they agreed that new TV series must reach and represent the entire country, and that also applies to ethnic diversity, setting, and environment.
To reach this objective, both fiction executives believe in introducing diversity early in the script development, making it an organic part of the production, rather than suddenly adjusting the cast much later in the process.
"We are working to solve this problem. For each series, we ask the big question: How is all of Denmark reflected in this series?" Nelund said.
According to Marienlund, DR’s upcoming Harvest (Høst), in development for a 2026 slate, is a good example of DR’s future scripted strategy.
"We want large audiences, while keeping in mind that all environments are interesting. In Danish fiction, agriculture is usually either Morten Korch (1950s look) or depressing, but we are an agricultural nation, so it must be taken seriously," she said.
While Netflix has steadily commissioned shows in Sweden and Norway, the streamer reduced its interest in Denmark after a local rights conflict erupted in 2022. Now, the US streamer is ready for a comeback on the Danish market.
“After some challenging years with few new projects, we have been busy commissioning new titles,” Netflix Vice President Nordic Content, Jenny Stjernströmer Björk, said.
Stjernströmer Björk announced three new Danish titles for 2025: the crime series The Legend, the relationship drama Mango, and the documentary Christopher - A Beautiful REAL Life. Netflix also revealed that a feature film, crime drama The Reservation, will premiere in 2025, and that Chestnut Man (Kastanjemanden) S2 will return in 2026, starring Sofie Gråbøl.
Warners Bros. Discovery and Viaplay were also on stage at the Tivoli Hotel; the latter delivering a more subdued message to the industry.
There is no escaping the fact that Viaplay Group is bound by investor demands following last winter's recapitalisation, and the broadcaster/streamer must assess every commissioned show very closely.
In short, scripted shows and documentaries are considered too expensive to produce, as they fail to attract and retain sufficient subscribers to merit their cost, Danish programme director for Viaplay Group, Morten Mogensen, said.
Upcoming Danish programmes were classics like Robinson Ekspeditionen, Luxury Trap (Luksusfælden), and Paradise Hotel.
The merged Warner Bros. Discovery now comprises both Max and 13 linear channel brands across the Nordics. To stand out from Viaplay, Danish content director Kristian Porsgaard Rosasco, WBD, said: “Yes, we are commissioning local content,” referring to his boss Pil Gundelach Brandstrup’s session about Max.
Porsgaard Rosasco took the opportunity to remind the audience that WBD is in a better place in 2024. Max has enjoyed an Olympic boost, and has a growing, slightly different subscription portfolio than HBO, and in Denmark, the main channel Kanal 5 has gained more potential viewers returning to YouSee’s basic cable package.
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