Viaplay veteran Kim Poder departs as Filippa Wallestam named chief commercial officer

Filippa Wallestam

Viaplay veteran Kim Poder is exiting the company after 24 years, with content chief Filippa Wallestam upped to EVP and chief commercial officer for the Nordics.

The changes take immediate effect, with Wallestam now expanding her role to include overall responsibility for the group’s largest commercial region, spanning Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Stockholm-based Wallestam, who previously worked at Boston Consulting Group and Daily Mail General Trust, was most recently EVP & chief content officer.

She will continue to lead Viaplay Group’s content operations and remain a member of the group executive management team, reporting into president and CEO Anders Jensen.

Poder’s next move is not yet known but he said he would be pursuing “new challenges”.

Background & context

Wallestam joined Viaplay in 2014 as head of strategy for free-TV and radio in Scandinavia, before becoming EVP and CEO for Sweden in April 2018.

She rose to become EVP and chief content officer in October 2019, working on shows including a new adaptation of Ian Rankin’s Rebus detective novels, which marked its first UK drama commission.

Viaplay has also recently snagged remake rights to Swedish crime novels, The Åre Murders, written by Viveca Sten, and is behind a series based on the autobiography of Norwegian politician and former minister Abid Raja.

Jensen said the management rejig followed “an intense period of expansion” in which Viaplay’s reach has been expanded across CEE, the UK and the US, with original output running to 130 series and films a year.

“The next phase of our strategy focuses on unlocking the full potential of our new regional set-up by getting as close as possible to our local markets and customers. Filippa’s commercial skills, drive and broad experience will serve us very well,” added Jensen, who thanked Poder for creating “significant value during his many years with the group.”