Ziggo, Holland’s largest cable operator, has reported that the number of digital TV subscribers increased by 20,000 in the second quarter to 2.2 million, representing a penetration of almost 80%.
The number of TV-only subscribers decreased by 18.4% compared with the same quarter last year, to a total of 1,080,000 at June 30, 2012. Similar to the first quarter, the decrease was mainly caused by TV-only subscribers taking up the All-in-1 bundle.
In addition, churn among TV-only subscribers was slightly higher compared with last year, while churn on all other product lines, and for All-in-1 in particular, was significantly lower. 47% of Ziggo customers had a subscription to an All-in-1 bundle.
The number of subscribers to the All-in-1 bundle grew by 34,000 to 1.4 million The number broadband customers grew by 22,000 during the quarter and by 7.5% compared to the prior-year quarter.
The total number of telephony subscribers rose to 1,421,000 at the end of the second quarter, an increase of 14.8% compared to the same period in 2011.
Ziggo’s total number of TV customers was 2,853,000 on June 30 – down from 2,886,000 on March 30. The number of analogue customers continued to go down, from 683,000 to 630,000.
The number of subscribers to digital pay-TV at June 30 increased by 5.0% to 940,000 compared to the prior year. In the second quarter, the number of digital pay-TV subscribers decreased by 7,000 to 940,000 versus a 25,000 decline in the same quarter last year. Similar to 2011, a certain number of subscribers cancelled their monthly subscriptions following the end of the football season. However, the quarterly decline was mitigated by new subscriptions to HBO.
ARPU for digital pay-TV increased by 9.9%, from €13.49 for Q2 2011 to €14.83 for Q2 2012.
The launch of HBO generated many subscribers for its promotional offer, which included a two-month free-view period. Following the launch in early February, many of these were converted into paid subscribers in the second quarter, according to Ziggo. “By the end of June the number of paying subscribers was well ahead of the anticipated number.”
