The number of customers of German DVB-T2 platform Freenet TV dropped to 1.004 million in Q3 2018.
At the end of Q2 2018, the offer still had 1.138 million customers, resembling a decrease of around 134,000 customers.
The actual number of customers is even lower: In Q3 2018, parent company Freenet Group reported for the first time the number of active, revenue generating customers (RGUs). As of September 30, the figure amounted to 901,500 RGUs – a decline of almost 100,000 RGUs compared to Q2 2018 in which Freenet TV recorded just over one million RGUs.
With the disclosure of RGUs, Freenet Group aims to better distinguish between prepaid voucher buyers and actual users, thereby ensuring greater transparency and better measurability, according to the Q3 2018 financial report. Previously, the number of vouchers which were sold was considered to be equivalent to the number of subscribers. However, some of these customers regularly purchased their vouchers in advance without activating them directly and generating the corresponding revenue.
The 2018 annual target for Freenet TV is one million RGUs and still 1.2 million customers. The start of DTH satellite broadcasting in March 2018 in addition to the DTT service could drive subscriber development.
Internet TV platform waipu.tv, meanwhile. was able to expand its customer base. The number of registered users rose from 824,000 (Q2 2018) to 1.007 million in Q3 2018. The share of paying customers increased from 174,300 to 202,400. Freenet Group expects over 250,000 paying waipu.tv customers and a significantly increased number of registered users by the end of 2018.
