To prepare for the breakthrough of video-on-demand in the Scandinavian market, Swedish media giant Bonnier Entertainment - the owner of Swedish major Svensk Filmindustri - has merged its VOD service, SF Anytime, with sister company SF Bio, Scandinavia's largest exhibitor.

'It is a crucial time for video-on-demand, and SF Anytime has huge potential,' said SF Bio president Jan Bernhardsson.

Instigated in 2000 as a development project, the service is now operating in four countries and languages - Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland - with a catalogue of approximately 1000 local and international films for online digital streaming.

After the reshuffle has been implemented, SF Anytime's first CEO Johan Cramer will be replaced by Jonas Dahllof, who has for the last two years headed SF Bio's establishment of a digital network for cinema commercials.

According to Bernhardsson, the VOD distributor has made supply deals with Sandrew-Metronome, Sonet Film, Scanbox, NonStop Entertainment, Disney, Fox and Warner, adding Svensk Filmindustri in-house product.

With 247 screens in Sweden and Norway, SF Bio totals 9.2 million admissions annually, and a turnover of $142 million (Euros 108 million).

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