Nordic Streamer Viaplay Launches on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels in U.S., Following Shutdown of Its Own Service

Todd Spangler
·3 min read

Viaplay’s streaming service — specializing in award-winning Scandinavian series and films — is now available as an add-on subscription on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels in the United States.

Starting Wednesday, Prime members in the U.S. will be able to sign up for Viaplay for $5.99 per month (with a seven-day free trial available for eligible customers) through Prime Video Channels.

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In February, Viaplay shut down its own app and direct-to-consumer streaming service in the U.S. and Canada, and the company has now focused its international distribution strategy in building growth via partnerships. Viaplay is already available in North America through partner platforms such as Comcast Xfinity, the Roku Channel and Xumo.

Viaplay said its U.S. content offering centers on “the Nordic region’s high-quality and psychologically penetrating series and films, from atmospheric and suspenseful crime dramas and provocative and stylish young-adult series to award-winning dramas and riveting documentaries.”

Content currently available on Viaplay in the U.S. includes Lars Mikkelsen in “Face to Face,” an intense interrogative drama; “Fenris,” featuring mysterious disappearances in a wolf-inhabited forest; “Trom,” a mystery set in the picturesque Faroe Islands; “Detective Maria Kallo,” based on the bestselling book series; “DNA,” a Danish police drama co-starring Charlotte Rampling; and “Black Sands,” a dark Icelandic mystery; as well as the three films from the renowned Millennium/The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.

Young-adult series on the service include dramas “Threesome” and “Delete Me” and coming-of-age LGBTQ short-form series “One of the Boys.” Dramas include “The Architect,” an award-winning dystopian dramedy starring Eili Harboe (“Succession”), “The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen” starring Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”), and Swedish drama “Limbo.” Documentaries include “The Most Remote Restaurant in the World,” following “the nearly impossible journey of a chef to set up shop in a remote location”; “Crime Scene Sweden,” an in-depth look at infamous Swedish murders; and “Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled,” a portrait of the legendary actor.

Content coming to Viaplay in the U.S. includes “Börje – The Journey of a Legend” (May 2), a six-part Swedish-English drama series about NHL icon Börje Salming, starring Valter Skarsgård, Hedda Stiernstedt and Jason Priestley (“Beverly Hills, 90210”).

Other programming includes “Furia” Season 2 (April 25) a political action-thriller following the threat of radical right-wing forces in Europe; “Gold Run” (May 7), a WWII feature film based on a true story starring Sven Nordin (“Wisting”); and “Murderesses” (May 21), an adaptation of Katarzyna Bonda’s bestselling true-crime book following a police officer uncovering treacherous family secrets

Viaplay Content Distribution, a division of Viaplay Group, handles the company’s content sales and Viaplay Select brand, along with the Viaplay subscription channel.

The distribution deal with Prime Video Channels “shows the universal appeal of high-quality Nordic and European content and will make these titles more accessible to viewers across the United States than ever before,” Vanda Rapti, Viaplay Group EVP for Viaplay Select and Content Distribution, said in a statement.

Pictured above: Viaplay’s “Börje – The Journey of a Legend” starring Valter Skarsgård as Börje and Hedda Stiernstedt as Margitta

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