Belgian operator Telenet said that organic loss rate of basic cable TV subscribers dropped to 4,100 in Q3 2013.
The figure represents the lowest level since early 2007 despite increased competition, most of which are low-cost alternatives.
Effective April 1, 2013, Telenet reclassified 166,400 digital cable TV subscribers to analogue cable television subscribers to reflect a change in the definition of basic digital cable television subscribers. As of Q2 2013, Telenet’s analogue cable TV subscriber base also includes subscribers who may use a purchased set?top box or other means to receive its basic digital cable channels without subscribing to any services that would require the payment of recurring monthly fees in addition to the basic analogue service fee.
As of September 30, 2013, approximately 70% of Telenet’s basic cable TV subscribers were generating incremental ARPU on our interactive digital TV platform, including access to additional thematic content packs, movies and sports channels and the VOD library .
Subscribers to the Telenet Digital TV platform grew 8% year?on?year to 1,466,600 at the end of September 2013. Over the first nine months of 2013, the operator attracted 66,400 net digital TV subscribers, of which 13,400 were added in Q3 2013.
The cabler’s performance in Q3 2013 was impacted by a one?time clean?up of 3,500 inactive subscribers. Relative to the first nine months of last year, Telenet recorded sharply lower net subscriber growth as last year’s commercial performance was significantly boosted by the implementation of the analogue channel reshuffle.
At the end of September 2013, 205,000 customers subscribed to the premium sports channels Sporting Telenet, representing an increase of 6% as compared to September 30, 2012. Since the acquisition of the Belgian football broadcasting rights, Telenet has recorded a 65% increase in the number of subscribers to Sporting Telenet.
Subscribers to total basic analogue and digital cable television services were 2,093,400 at the end of September 2013, which represented approximately 72% of homes passed by the network. This represented a net organic loss of 24,200 basic cable TV subscribers since the start of 2013.
“All our fixed services continued to enjoy a strong uptake in Q3 with 17,400 net subscribers for broadband internet and 13,400 for digital TV, which was impacted by a clean?up of 3,500 inactive subscribers,” said John Porter, CEO, Telenet, in a statement.
“ Following the start of the new football season, our new campaigns were very successful and attracted another 8,900 net subscribers to Sporting Telenet, bringing the total base much over 200,000 now. Fixed telephony grew significantly by 31,700 net subscribers, the best quarterly growth since early 2009, fueled by the introduction of our new bundles and our new VoIP app. Despite new competition in the lower end of the market, our basic cable TV churn in Q3 2013 was at its lowest level since early 2007, representing a net subscriber loss of 4,100.”
