Subscribers to Viasat’s Nordic pay-TV channels fell back in the second quarter as the operator felt the effects of the agreement to carry all of the major Norwegian broadcasters on its DTH platform.
Premium subscribers reduced from 752,000 in March 2008 to 739,000 at the end of June. DTH was responsible for a fall of 15,000 homes, though IPTV was able to add a further 1,000 homes, ahead of the recent deal with the Swedish Telia network that will make Viasat’s premium package available to a potential 300,000 homes. At the end of the quarter there were 688,000 DTH premium subscribers receiving the TV1000 channels, 51,000 on IPTV, while 82,000 enjoyed Viasat’s basic satellite services.
Personal video recorders increased from 82,000 at the end of the first quarter to 95,000 at the end of the second representing 14% of the premium subscriber base.
Despite the setback, MTG’s Nordic pay-TV business reported a 13% year-on-year growth in sales to SEK993 million (€105.24m). “The results for the second quarter and first half of 2008 are again at record levels, both in terms of sales and profitability,” said MTG president Hans-Holger Albrecht. He added that it was the 15th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth by the company.
The Central and East Europe and Baltic businesses have been reclassified as Free-TV Emerging Markets and Pay-TV Emerging Markets. Both put on significant gains, producing sales of SEK586 and SEK148 respectively.
The Baltic pay-TV business added 4,000 subscribers on the quarter and 62,000 on the year, while the wholesale mini-pay business added 2.6 million subscribers on the quarter and now stands at 30,202,000.
The Nordic pay-TV business reported a 13% year-on-year growth in sales to SEK993 million (€105.24m).
