Cable network operators lose fewer TV customers thanks to ice hockey
The new sports channel MySports is paying off for cable operators in Switzerland. Although they lost more TV subscribers between July and the end of September, the rate of decline has slowed significantly. The number of TV subscribers fell by 0.5 percent, or 11,800, to about 2.4 million.
Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to a decline of 1.3 percent. At the end of September 2016, the year-on-year decline was still 4.9 percent.
Thanks to more telephony as well as Internet customers, the total number of subscriptions also rose by 0.5 percent or 22,700 to around 4.6 million as of September 30, 2017, according to Suissedigital, the industry association for communications networks, on Thursday.
| Subscriptions | 30.06.17 | 30.09.17 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telephony total | 891’000 | 920’000 | +29,000 (+3.3%) |
| - Thereof mobile telephony | 121’000 | 135’000 | +14,000 (+11.6%) |
| - Thereof fixed network telephony | 770’000 | 785’000 | +15,000 (+2%) |
| Broadband Internet | 1’246’000 | 1’251’500 | +5,500 (+0.4%) |
| Television | 2’410’000 | 2’398’200 | -11,800 (-0.5%) |
Suissedigital attributes the reduced loss of TV customers "significantly" to MySports. Launched in September, the channel is produced by the association's largest member UPC and is now distributed by 17 Suissedigital distributors.
On September 30, three weeks after the launch of the channel, UPC already recorded 26,000 subscriptions to the MySports Pro package, according to the statement. In addition, more than 3 million households in Switzerland receive the basic MySports Basic channel at no additional cost, including more than 1.2 million at UPC.
The station shows live broadcasts of Swiss ice hockey games in particular. Another trump card is the vast majority of Bundesliga soccer matches. UPC has snatched the Swiss ice hockey championship matches from Swisscom, which it does not want to pass on the ice hockey broadcasts to.
Swisscom filed a complaint against this with the Swiss Federal Competition Commission (Comco). Although the Weko saw indications of anti-competitive behavior, it did not want to take any precautionary measures. So while the investigation is ongoing, UPC does not have to allow Swisscom to transmit.
Suissedigital is made up of 200 private and public companies that supply 2.4 million households with radio, TV, HDTV, Internet and telephony. The association sees itself as a counterpart to the telecom giant Swisscom. (SDA/hae)
