The total number of TV customers hooked up to Magyar Telekom services stood at 834,726 homes at the end of 2012, compared with 797,390 at end 2011.
The operator provides various TV products in Hungary, Macedonia and Montenegro. The total number of cable TV customers went down 20.5% from 289,693 (2011) to 230,323 (2012), but both IPTV and satellite DTH recorded an increase. The number of IPTV customers went up from 226,385 to 313,285 (+38.4%) and satellite TV customers up from 281,312 to 291,118 (+3.5%)
Driven by a larger customer base, IPTV and satellite TV revenues increased compared to same quarter last year. This increase was partly offset by lower cable TV revenues influenced by the significantly lower customer base due to migration from cable TV to IPTV.
TV revenues amounted to HUF 8.9 billion in Q4 2012 as compared to HUF 8.2 billion in Q4 2011, representing an increase of 7.9%. This increase is mainly attributable to much higher IPTV revenues driven by the growing IPTV subscriber base, both in Hungary and at the foreign subsidiaries in Macedonia and Montenegro.
The fast growth of the IPTV customer base, helped by the development of the operator’s high speed internet network, demonstrates the increasing popularity of interactive television. Growth in satellite TV revenues was also due to the higher number of customers compared to the same quarter last year.
Fixed equipment revenues amounted to HUF 1.8 billion in Q4 2012 as compared to HUF 1.2 in Q4 2011. The increase is mainly due to the higher sale of TV sets in Hungary and at out foreign subsidiaries. In Hungary, tablet sales also increased significantly in Q4 2012.
Fixed line-related payments decreased by 13.1% to HUF 10.7 billion in Q4 2012, from HUF 12.3 billion in Q4 2011.This decrease is mainly owing to lower voice-related payments in Hungary due to lower fees applied, both in domestic and international relations. The decrease was partly offset by the 11.6% higher TV payments driven by the 4.7% increase in TV subscriber base in Hungary as well as higher IPTV subscriber base both in Macedonia and Montenegro.
“As a result of strong growth in our retail gas and electricity revenues and significant expansion of other products including TV, mobile internet and SI/IT services, we recorded positive revenue growth in 2012, ahead of our expectations. The Christmas period, in particular, was characterised not only by strong sales of TV subscriptions, but also television sets. These fit well into our non-core strategy and help to support subscription growth.”