Sky boosted as customers defect from Virgin Media

LONDON - BSkyB appears to be benefiting from its spat with Virgin Media, adding almost 350,000 subscribers, giving it a total of 8.6m customers and a 20% rise, beating expectations.

In a trading update the broadcaster said it had added 90,000 new net customers after accounting for churn giving it a 17% year-on-year rise. Its churn figure, or those giving up their Sky service, had fallen to 12.1% in the three months to June 17.

Rival Virgin Media has been steadily losing customers and offering big discounts to hang onto those threatening to go. This follows from Sky withdrawing its basic package, which includes Sky News and Sky One, depriving customers of hit shows such as 'Lost', '24' and 'Battlestar Galactica'.

James Murdoch, BSkyB chief executive, said: "Our transformation continues to gather pace. Today we are adding new customers at the fastest rate since analogue switch-off; we are adding more broadband customers than any other provider; and we are the only major residential telephony provider growing its customer base.

"Looking forward, we will continue to grow our share of an enlarged sector opportunity by delivering a superior customer experience, investing in the products and services customers want and by continuing to offer exceptional value to all our customers."

BSkyB will report its preliminary results for the year ended June 30 on July 27.

The take up of ad-skipping digital video recorders continues apace and BSkyB said that there were now 2.4m customers with Sky+, an increase of 207,000 or 28%. The average revenue per customer or Arpu was also up this period by £21, rising year-on-year from £406 to £412.

The update comes in the same week that the Competition Commission confirmed its investigation into BSkyB's 17.9% stake in ITV, which will include a probe into the relationship between the satellite broadcaster and the rest of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

That announcement came two months after Alistair Darling, the then secretary of state for trade and industry, referred BSkyB's acquisition to the commission for a full investigation.

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