OTT subscription services such as giants Netflix and Amazon Video continue to grow their subscription bases globally, including in Scandinavia. In the last four years, the pay TV customer base in Scandinavia has declined - in particular in Denmark and Norway, where it has decreased by 10% and 14% respectively - but Sweden has maintained a pay TV penetration rate of over 100 contracts per 100 households. Danish and Norwegian consumers are cancelling their pay TV subscriptions in favour of OTT subscription services. But what is happening in Sweden that makes it resistant to cord-cutting?

The gap in Sweden between pay TV and SVoD is still considerable, with total pay TV subscriptions expected to grow over the next five years. ComHem, with its large and growing pay TV customer base is the driving force behind this. A large proportion of ComHem's pay TV subscribers are on its basic utility cable packages (many still analogue) and the fee is often included in rent paid to the landlord. If ComHem and its basic access subscription base is removed from the total pay TV business mix – a declining trend in pay TV subscribers base in Sweden becomes evident, suggesting that, like their Nordic neighbours, Swedish consumers also trend towards SVoD services over traditional pay TV platforms.