Boxer’s Swedish operations continue to suffer from subscriber erosion, while its Danish compatriot is growing in stature.
In the second quarter the number of subscribers to the Swedish DTT platform fell to 612,000 from 637,000 one year previous. This represents a marked contrast with Denmark, which now stands at 368,000 subscribers from 80,000 in the second quarter of 2011.
Parent Teracom describes Boxer Denmark as still being in a “construction phase”. The operator benefitted from a surge in subscriptions at the start of the year when TV2 became a pay-TV channel.
The effects of the TV2 conversion has slowed during the second quarter, but Boxer Denmark has continued to show strong sales.
Sweden has been hit financially too from a change in the billing method that resulted in lower card revenues of approximately SEK 25 million, though overall it was the fall in subscribers that hit the bottom line.
Transmission costs have increased due to the rollout of more HD services.
Finland’s Plus TV, also now a part of Teracom, continues to enjoy the leading position for pay-TV in the country.
An additional 14,000 subscribers were added on the quarter, driven by the hockey world championships in May, which were carried on Canal+. However, a large proportion of the Canal+ subs were taken on a short term basis.
