Liberty Global’s next generation TV platforms added 302,000 subscribers in the second quarter, with UK (78,000), Belgium (69,000) and Poland (53,000) the star performers.
As of the end of June, the next generation subscriber base stood at 7.2 million, or 41% of all Liberty’s cable video base (excluding DTH) in Europe.
In the UK, nearly 10% of video subscribers were already using the new 4K enabled Virgin TV V6 set-top-box as of the end of Q2.
Meanwhile, the number of WiFi Connect boxes installed across Europe grew by 800,000 to 4.5 million. This was equivalent to 31% of Liberty’s broadband base of 14.7 million.
RGU additions varied significantly from market across Europe in the second quarter. In the UK, for instance, the total of 78,000 was 56% higher than a year earlier, while in Germany the 54,000 figure was roughly half of that in Q2 2016.
Central and Eastern Europe saw a sharp decline in RGU additions: 35,000, compared to 92,000 a year earlier. This was largely due to softer RGU performances in Poland, Slovakia and the company’s DTH business, offset to some degree by strong RGU growth in Hungary.
Liberty Global’s total revenues in Europe in Q2 amounted to $3,663.2 million, or 18% less than a year earlier. Its net loss of $637 million in Q2 contrasted with net income of $204 million in the corresponding period in 2016.
On a YTD basis, the net loss was $930 million and $126 million in H1 2017 and H1 2016 respectively.
