Sky Italia is continuing on its upward track with a second quarter operating income of $62 million. This contrasts with a second quarter loss of $12m for the period 12 months previous, helped by local currency revenue growth of 12%.
Growth at the News Corp DTH operation was driven by subscriber increases of 19,000 on the quarter and 400,000 on the full 12 months, bringing the total subscriber base to 4.43 million as of December 31, 2007. The pre-Christmas quarter was actually the lowest increase within the 12-month period, though one might expect the Italian market to ensure its programming choices were made before the start of the football season.
Finances were trimmed in part by the increased programming costs associated with growing subscriber numbers.
Separately, News Corp has reported increased contributions from Fox International Channels, driven by continued advertising and affiliate growth in Latin America and Europe.