Sky Deutschland expects big subscriber boost in coming year

Brian Sullivan

Pay TV operator Sky Deutschland expects to gain between 400,000 and 450,000 subscribers and full-year EBITDA in the range of €80-110 million in the new financial year after posting strong numbers for the quarter to June.

Sky increased its overall direct subscribers by 82,000 in the quarter, taking its total to 3,813,000. Premium HD customers increased by 130,000 to 2,236,000, while Sky+ customers increased by 106,000 to 1,681,000.

The subscriber growth was boosted by the earlier than expected migration of former Deutsche Telekom Ligatotal football subscribers to the Sky platform. Sky also achieved the lowest churn in its history, with a quarterly annualised rate of 7.7% and a 12-month rolling rate of 10.1%.

A total of 451,000 customer now take Sky’s multiroom offer, the Sky Zweitcarte or second smartcard, up from 393,000 a year ago.

Revenues increased by 14% to €428 million for the quarter, while EBITDA rose by 23% to €45 million.

The company has changed its reporting period to run from July to June, taking it line with 21st Century Fox sister companies. BSkyB has placed a tender to acquire 21st Century Fox’s stake in the German pay TV service.

“Having recently marked the fifth anniversary of Sky Deutschland, in what was not too long ago a dormant pay-TV market, we have now seen 20 consecutive quarters of continuous growth, and we think the potential is just starting to be tapped. In the past quarter net subscriber growth increased strongly, and customer loyalty hit new record levels with churn rates that are the best in our company’s history,” said CEO Brian Sullivan.

“Many exclusive premieres of outstanding series and blockbuster movies in the quarter – every single one also available on-demand via the new Sky Go, which is now free for all Sky customers – confirm that Sky is the clear market leader across all platforms and genres. And with the return of action in the Bundesliga and Champions League following on from the incredible performance of the German National Team in the World Cup, we couldn’t be more excited about the year ahead.”