Sky Italia added an additional 58,000 subscribers in the last quarter after a troublesome 12 months.
“We’ve begun to recapture some of the growth we had before the challenges of Berlusconi that we’ve had in the past 12 months plus,” said News Corp COO Chase Carey.
Revenues at the News Corp-owned satcaster were up by 2% in local currency terms, giving an annual €1 ARPU increase to €43, though operating income was down from €128 million to €82m.
The World Cup was a key driver, both in terms of advertising and subscriber uptake. The fall in operating income can be attributed in part to new subscribers taking up a full installation offer on the back the summer’s reorganization of its programme packages.
“Our short-term priority has been top-line growth, particularly subscribers, and we’ve begun achieving those objectives through new pricing and packaging, technology leadership, and reenergised marketing,” added Carey. “We’re certainly not declaring victory, but I believe we’re making the right moves and making headway.”
Sky Italia closed the quarter with 4.8 million subscribers.