Sky to launch HDTV service in 2006

Wednesday February 2, 03:18 PM (From Electricnews.net)


Sky adds 32,000 Irish subscribers

By Ciaran Buckley

BSkyB (LSE: BSY.L - news - msgs) has increased its year-on-year revenues by 8 percent through new subscriptions, having signed-up an extra 32,000 customers in Ireland alone since December 2003.

The company, which runs a UK and Ireland direct-to-home (DTH) satellite broadcasting operation, had group turnover of STG1 billion for the quarter to the end of December, up from STG916 for the same quarter in the previous year. The firm also reported net profits of STG61 million to the end of December, with per share earnings of STG0.031. This compares to earnings of only STG40 million for the same quarter in 2003, when the company had per-share earnings of STG0.021.

The number of subscribers to Sky in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom has also increased by 16 percent over the past 12 months. Ireland now has around 347,000 subscribers, up from only 315,000 at the end of December 2003.

"With one in four households now subscribing to Sky Digital, the appeal of digital television continues to grow in Ireland," said Mark Deering, director of Sky Ireland, in a statement.

In the spring of 2004, Sky attempted to boost its Irish subscriptions by launching a nightly Irish news service, anchored by Grainne Seoige. The company employs 40 people in the Republic of Ireland, with another four employees based in Belfast.

The company has also announced that it is on target to launch a high-definition TV service (HDTV) in 2006.

Sky's UK competitors have upped the ante in recent times by introducing video on demand (VOD). Both NTL and Telewest (LSE: TWT.L - news) said that they had launched their own video-on-demand (VOD) services to small groups of customers, marking what have been described as the first roll-outs of the technology outside the US.

NTL (NASDAQ: NTLI - news) 's service, called NTL On Demand, is now available in parts of Glasgow, while Telewest's movies-on-demand service goes live in Bristol. Both services will allow consumers to order films and other television content, which can be paused, rewound and fast forwarded, similar to DVDs. Films are charged for on a once-off basis and can be viewed an unlimited number of times during a 24-hour period. The advertisement-free content ranges from children's programming to adult films.