News Corp’s Italian DTH operation returned to positive subscriber growth in the quarter ending June 30, 2010. Sky Italia added a net 45,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter, though having lost 56,000 on the year, the Eutelsat-delivered platform ended the period with 4.7 million subscribers.
News Corp chief financial officer David DeVoe described churn of 13% as “considerably better” than that experienced several quarters ago.
Operating income of $97 million for the quarter represented a decrease of $163m on the same period in 2009.
DeVoe said there were early signs of success for the July channel repackaging. “We believe this increased choice for the Italian consumer will stimulate subscriber growth and the response to this new package has been quite encouraging.”
In the new packaging structure introduced on July 5 subscribers are able to choose a premium package from Football, Movies or Sports and combine it with two basic ‘World’ packages for a monthly €29.
