Pay TV broadcaster Sky secures more customers and plans new series
The fantasy series «Game of Thrones» has brought the British pay-TV company Sky more customers. Sky announced on Thursday that it gained 160,000 new subscribers in the first fiscal quarter, which ran from July through September.
This was 51 percent more than in the previous year. In the German-speaking region, Sky cracked the 5 million customer mark. The U.S. series "Game of Thrones" is now the most watched series on Sky, said Group CEO Jeremy Darroch.
But the media group is also continuing to expand its range of in-house productions. On average, four new starts per quarter are planned this year.
Group-wide, first quarter revenues increased by 5 percent to 3.3 billion British pounds (3.8 billion Swiss francs). Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) increased by 11 percent to 582 million pounds.
In the German-speaking region, revenues increased by 8 percent to 495 million pounds. Ebitda in this country climbed 35 percent to 23 million pounds, despite the increased cost of broadcasting rights to Bundesliga soccer matches.
Sky is about to be taken over by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox. However, the British authorities had ordered a new review in September due to competition concerns and also with regard to compliance with journalistic standards. The £11.7 billion deal is therefore likely to be delayed by at least six months or could possibly fall through altogether.
The Murdoch Group already owns 39 percent of Sky. The media mogul had already tried in vain to gain full control of Sky in 2011. At the time, a wiretapping scandal at the Sunday newspaper, which belongs to his media empire, caused News of the World the plan fail. (SDA)
