Stella Blómkvist Premiere Shatters Viewer Records
The launch of Stella Blómkvist on Icelandic SVOD service Síminn Premium has shattered the previous record set by The Handmaid’s Tale, with over 150,000 views recorded in its first week alone, where the population is just 330,000.
Based on The Murder In The Ministry by pseudonymous novelist Stella Blómkvist, the first season sees the titular heroine, played by Heida Reed (Poldark), follow a seedy trail of sex, murder and blackmail that leads her into a twisted maze of ruthless corruption at the very heart of government itself.
A third of all households in Iceland subscribe to Síminn Premium, and of those 54% watched the first episode during its premiere weekend. Since then the series has broken records for the most views in a day, weekend and week on the platform.
Managing Director of Entertainment at Siminn, Magnús Ragnarsson, said: “Never before has an Icelandic TV drama been released on a local SVOD platform with all episodes made available at launch. We knew the quality of the content was high so we took a chance and its reception has far exceeded our expectations.”
Stella Blómkvist, directed by Óskar Thór Axelsson (Trapped), will premiere across Scandinavia on Viaplay in early 2018.