ABC of Future TV 05/25
🔎 Spotlight: Finland 🇫🇮
Hyvää huomenta! Did you know Finland was the first country to air a live drama entirely via Instagram Stories - turning smartphones into theatre stages long before TikTok took off?
Welcome to ABC of Future TV - your monthly deep dive into Europe’s evolving media landscape. Each edition covers:
✅ Audience: Viewing habits, favourite platforms, and top creators.
✅ Business: Key industry players, economic trends, and branded entertainment.
✅ Content: TV formats, innovation, and opportunities for producers.
ABC of Future TV goes beyond trends - I interview industry insiders, uncover collaboration opportunities, and provide actionable insights to help TV producers and media professionals stay ahead in the European market.
For this edition, I chatted with Lasse Nikkari, Head of Formats and Head of Branded Entertainment at Sanoma Media Finland - and not just because he’s a fan of this Substack 😉
“Into TV, brands, social, and a bit of gaming? TV Futurist is a super smart (but not too serious) newsletter that rounds up the coolest stuff happening where entertainment and marketing meet. Think The White Lotus collabs, Netflix turning Monopoly into a reality show, and Google making moves in Roblox. Well worth the read – and always a good inbox moment.”
👥 Audience: Gen Z in Finland
Finland’s Gen Z live their lives online, driving a shift in entertainment norms as their social-first habits - including the fact that 93 % of Finns stream video content weekly - reshape how shows are made and shared in Finland.
Gen Z’s Favourite Platforms
Finnish Gen Z are online almost nonstop: in 2023, 82 % of 16–24-year-olds used social networking sites several times a day (Statista), and TikTok counted 1.64 million users in early 2024 - that’s roughly 30 % of Finland’s internet base (DataReportal – Global Digital Insights).
📊 Fun fact: More than 70 % of Gen Z Finns watch YouTube every day, making it their go-to source for entertainment, music, and user-generated content.
💡 What this means for TV: With that level of addiction to short, snackable videos, TV producers should think beyond linear schedules and experiment with YouTube Shorts, TikTok mini-episodes, and Instagram Reels to insert their shows into Gen Z’s constant scroll.
Gen Z’s Favourite Creators
I’ve been writing a lot recently about creators moving over to traditional media. In Finland, several digital-native influencers have already made the leap from social platforms to traditional television, proving that Gen Z talent can thrive across both worlds. Whether hosting segments on national streaming services or appearing as guests on major talk shows, these creators bring fresh energy and built-in audiences to TV, blurring the lines between online and linear entertainment. For example:
Sara Forsberg started on YouTube and now hosts TV shows. Since her video "What Languages Sound Like to Foreigners" was posted on YouTube on 3 March 2014 on her channel Smoukahontas Official (which subsequently has been changed into SAARA), it has been seen over 22 million times as of May 2025.
Her ability to mimic accents and speech melodies of different languages, which included Japanese, Estuary English, American with California accent, Swedish, French, Arabic and Spanish, using mainly nonexistent words, was praised by media in a number of countries and has led to her working with Lucasfilm and creating an alien language used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She also created another alien language for a Hollywood film, this time for the film Star Trek Beyond, in which she has also a minor voice role as an alien named Kalara.
She was also a judge on the fifth season of Talent Suomi, the Finnish version of Got Talent and has hosted several game shows. She’s a prime example of how talent can move between the worlds.
Another example is Tuure Boelius, a Finnish YouTuber and singer, who has successfully crossed over into television: after amassing over 130 000 subscribers with his personal vlogs and music covers, he appeared as a celebrity contestant on Tanssii tähtien kanssa (Finland’s Dancing with the Stars) in 2018 and served as a guest panelist on Masked Singer Suomi in 2020. These TV appearances demonstrate how young, digital-born talent like Tuure can bring an existing Gen Z fanbase to linear formats and help broadcasters connect with a younger audience.
💰Business: Finland’s €14B Creative Engine
Finland’s media industry is a significant economic driver, with the broader creative sector generating around €14 billion in turnover in 2022 and employing over 110 000 people in cultural occupations nationwide (creativefinland.org/Statistics Finland). At the heart of audiovisual growth is the Finnish Film Foundation, which operates on a €24 million annual budget to fund around 60–70 productions each year - bolstering both domestic output and international promotion (europeanfilmagencies.eu). Complementing this, Business Finland offers up to 25% cash rebates on qualifying production costs, drawing more international shoots to Helsinki and beyond (Business Finland). Meanwhile, investment firm IPR.VC has launched a €100 million fund specifically for film and TV projects, signalling private‐sector confidence in Finland’s creative ecosystem.
Key players include Yle (Finland’s public broadcaster, which drives digital initiatives through Yle Areena), Nelonen Media (owned by Sanoma, operating Nelonen and the Ruutu streaming service), MTV Oy (owner of MTV3), and subscription platforms like Elisa Viihde. These outlets are increasingly commissioning Gen Z‐oriented content, with Yle Areena rolling out short‐form web series and vertical videos to meet younger viewers on mobile. Together, public funding bodies, private investors, and digital‐first broadcasters are laying the groundwork for Finland’s next era of cross-platform, youth-aimed storytelling.
Spotlight Interview: Sanoma’s Playbook Crafting Gen Z-Ready Formats
To learn how Finland’s largest media group Sanoma is shaping innovative, youth-focused formats, I sat down with Lasse Nikkari, Head of Formats and Branded Entertainment.
🌟 What are you actively looking for when acquiring formats today — and how has that changed in the past five years?
🗣️ Lasse: “We’re looking for shows that can perform well both on linear TV and streaming. That’s been our focus for over five years now with our Total TV strategy, so in that sense, not much has changed. What has evolved is how clearly we assess the format’s potential to live across platforms right from the start.”
🌟 Are you also developing formats with platform migration in mind — ones that can move seamlessly from linear TV to digital, or even to social-first platforms?
🗣️ Lasse: “Absolutely. All of our shows are built with multiple windows in mind — from linear to online. Even our collaborations with YouTubers are designed this way. That said, we haven’t (yet) adopted YouTube as a full distribution platform like Channel 4 or ITV have, but we’re watching those models closely.”
🌟 How does your team approach developing formats that resonate with a generation raised on TikTok and YouTube Shorts?
🗣️ Lasse: “We actively collaborate with YouTube creators. The idea is to take successful and familiar online concepts and give them a more polished treatment for our streaming platform, Ruutu. After an exclusive window on Ruutu, the content often returns to the creator’s original platform, creating a nice loop between platforms and audiences.”
🌟 Where do you see the biggest opportunity for broadcasters in the streaming era?
🗣️ Lasse: “In local content, in the local language, with local insight. Our surveys clearly show that for Finnish audiences, local scripted content is the biggest driver when choosing a streaming service.”
🌟 What kind of partnerships or co-productions are you exploring to stay competitive in the streaming age?
🗣️ Lasse: “Partnerships are crucial for building and expanding our streaming platform, Ruutu. One of our most important collaborations is with Elisa Viihde — a telco and local streaming service. All of their original series are now available on our SVOD service, and many eventually air on our linear channels as well. It’s a deep partnership — we even handle the marketing of their titles through Nelonen Media.
We’ve also integrated international services like Pluto TV and Paramount+ (Showtime) into our ecosystem.”
🌟 Can you share a recent branded project that surprised you in terms of audience engagement or brand results?
🗣️ Lasse: “Our branded collaboration between Dragon’s Den and Nordea, the local bank, really stood out. The brand survey results from the first season were excellent. Audiences felt the match between the show and the brand was especially strong. It wasn’t exactly a surprise — it was the goal from the beginning — but still, it was great to see it land so well.”
🌟 What’s one trend in branded entertainment you believe broadcasters aren’t paying enough attention to — but should?
🗣️ Lasse: “I’m a big believer in the power of combining comedy and marketing. A 30-minute procedural comedy slot can be a fantastic vehicle for branded storytelling — it’s something I’m quietly championing behind the scenes. Comedy is rewatchable, joyful, and in these gloomy times, people crave that kind of energy. Plus, a great punchline from a favourite show tends to stick — so why not make that work for brands?”
🌟 If you could commission/acquire one “dream” format today, unlimited budget, Gen Z-focused — what would it be?
🗣️ Lasse: “From the scripted side, and thinking about Nordic youth audiences specifically, I’d love to find the next SKAM — or even develop something inspired by it. That kind of raw, real, and emotionally resonant storytelling is still a goldmine.”
🌟 If you’re developing the next SKAM or comedy meets marketing format, get in touch with Lasse - and maybe you’ll find some inspiration in the next section. 😉
Next up: Content & Innovation (Premium)
Top 5 Future TV Firsts: Finnish Edition
Platform Innovation
Audience Co-Creation
Brand Integration
Influencer-led Distribution
Premium Export Strategies
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to TV Futurist to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.