TalkTalk says that its YouView-based TV proposition is growing subscribers at the rate of 1,000 a day. In all, 27,000 of the Huawei-manufactured units have been installed by the telco, one of the partners in the BBC-led hybrid project.
“We’ve successfully launched our YouView TV service with positive customer feedback and are beginning to scale the base according to plan,” said TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding.
The return to TV – TalkTalk previously took over the old HomeChoice business from Tiscali – has so far cost the company £8 million (€10 million).
Between £7 million and £12 million is expected to be spent on TV in the half-year period ending March 31, 2013.
Its arrival demonstrates the importance of the triple play bundle. TalkTalk’s unbundled base fell by 27,000 on the quarter and its our total broadband customer base was 4,000 lower at the end of the quarter than at the end of Q1. Even so, this was the best quarterly net adds performance in two years.
The number of customers taking the premium Plus product grew by 44% year on year and now comprises 29% of the on-net base.
22,000 more customers chose to pay for higher broadband speeds in the quarter. TalkTalk is expecting further demand from customers who are interested in taking TV and live in a fibre-enabled area, but who currently do not receive sufficient speed to take our TV product (at least 3 Mbps for standard definition content and greater than 5 Mbps for premium/high definition content, according to TalkTalk).
The TalkTalk Plus TV package is priced at £14.50 per month on top of the £9.50 required telephone line rental.
Additional channels, called TV Boosts, are priced at £5 a month for the TV Starter Boost, through to £15 for the Entertainment Extra boost and £30 for the 5-channel Sky Sports Boost.
