Sky Italia has reported the addition of 45,000 new subscribers in the last quarter, taking the installed base to its highest-ever total.
As of March 31, 2011, the Eutelsat-delivered service had 4.92 million subscribers. News Corp COO Chase Carey said Sky Italia was in its strongest competitive position for two years and that he expected the satcaster would cross the five million threshold during the summer. “Subscriber growth has been our clear priority and has required investment in marketing, consumer offers and technology, and this has impacted current profits. However, it is critical to position ourselves for long-term financial growth and leadership”.
Gross ads in Q3 FY11 were 173,000 compared to 118,000 one year ago. Net ads of 45,000 were also higher than the 39,000 loss of the comparable quarter.
Operating income fell from $35 million 12 months ago to $17 million, due in part to a fall in advertising revenues, but also greater expenditure on marketing and installation.
