Video-on-Demand: Elisa Debuts Nordic TV in Shenzhen and Guangdong

Finnish telecommunications, ICT, and digital service company Elisa has launched Nordic TV in China. Nordic TV is a video-on-demand service, providing premier Nordic content including drama, documentaries, sports and variety shows.

Partnered with China Broadcasting and Television Media, a subsidiary of China Broadcasting Network, the service was first released in Shenzhen in December, followed by a launch in Guangdong, a province in South China. Now Nordic TV reaches to 4 million cable TV households. The rollout will continue with new regions added in spring time this year.

“Nordic TV opens a window for Chinese audiences to learn about Nordic culture and society. It enables us to differentiate our offering for the audiences”, says Chen Kai, General manager of CBM.

Apart from developing distribution channels, Nordic TV also collaborates with Creative Export Innovations in the Bigger Picture project. Bigger Picture aims to facilitate co-production and cooperation to help Finnish film and TV industry to seize the opportunities in the Chinese market. 19 Finnish production companies have participated in the competition to develop and export their audio-visual projects to China.

“Nordic TV is our first step to enter Chinese entertainment market. It also paves the way for future business opportunities like co-production and even e-commerce”, says Einari Kanerva, Director of Nordic TV.

Elisa is a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services. It serves approximately 2.8 million consumer, corporate and public administration organisation customers, and has over 6.2 million subscriptions in its network. Cooperation with Vodafone and Telenor, among others, enables globally competitive services. The company's core markets are Finland and Estonia, and it also provides digital services for international markets.