BSkyB put evidence of the resilience of the pay-TV sector in the current credit crunch forward today. The DTH broadcaster reported net customer growth of 56,000 as total subscribers reached 8.888 million. New customer additions of 289,000 helped churn fall to its lowest level for four years at 10.5%. The average revenue per unit (ARPU) increased to £424.
The leading product continues to be the Sky+ personal video recorder, adding 262,000 installs to 3.393 million. HD also continues to increase, a further 43,000 households bringing the total to 465,000. Broadband increased by 229,000 to 1.428 million and the Sky Talk telephony service put on 180,000 homes to 1.095 million.
Third quarter revenues increased by 10% to £3,706 million and operating profits totalled £504 million.