German pay-TV platform Premiere has said it expects to reverse its decline in subscriber numbers in the second half of 2009.
The satcaster announced increased first quarter losses of €80 million, compared to €28.1m in Q1 2008. Premiere lost 28,000 subscribers on the quarter, falling to 2,371,000, though ARPU was up by almost €1 at €23.86. The churn rate was also slightly improved, albeit at the heights of 22.4%.
“Our Q1 results are in line with our expectations. We expect subscriber growth to commence only in the second half of this year following our comprehensive sales, marketing and customer service initiatives,” said Premiere CEO Mark Williams. He said a return to profitability was not expected until 2011.
Premiere confirmed it would take the name Sky Deutschland.
Pietro Maranzana has been appointed as chief financial officer, taking over responsibilities previously held by Williams.