Belgian cable operator Telenet said in its Q3 earnings report that it anticipates further churn of its total number of video subscribers.
“Given the historical video penetration in our footprint, the limited expansion of the number of homes passed and strong competition in the domestic TV market, we anticipate further churn of total video subscribers, offset by further growth in multiple-play subscribers, generating a higher ARPU relative to the basic video ARPU.”
Th total number of homes connected decreased by 8,400 (9 months 2016: 26,200) to 2,028,600 at September 30, 2016.”The sequential decrease reflects the impact of the increased competitive environment and Q3 typically showing higher churn as a result of the “Back to School” campaigns in the market. The aforementioned organic loss rate excludes migrations to our enhanced video service and represents customers churning to competitors’ platforms, such as other digital television, OTT and satellite providers, or customers terminating their television service or having moved out of our service footprint.”
Approximately 85% of Telenet’s video customers subscribed to its enhanced video services, this translated into 1,731,000 enhanced video customers at September 30, 2016, adding 2,900 net subscribers in Q3 2016 (9M 2016: 16,800). At September 30, 2016, approximately 26% of the enhanced video subscribers were actively using the TV Everywhere Yelo Play app. The subscription VOD packages Play and Play More had 340,700 customers, up 39% compared to the prior year period.
For the first nine months of 2016, the cabler’s video revenue amounted to €425.0 million (Q3 2016: €141.0 million) compared to €412.6 million for the prior year period. This 3% increase was driven by higher recurring set-top box rental fees and growth in the premium subscription VOD business, partly offset by a gradual decline in the total video subscriber base and slightly lower revenue from transactional VOD services.
