BSkyB has released its latest financial results, showing a strong quarter of growth with 74,000 net new TV customers and almost 50% of TV customers using connected TV services.
Announcing its results for the nine months ended 31 March 2014, BSkyB’s adjusted revenue (1) totalled £5,666 million, up 7%. Jeremy Darroch (pictured), CEO, commented: “We have had a strong third quarter and continued to grow at an accelerated rate as customers respond to the quality and breadth of our offering. Nine months into our plans for the year, we have added almost a third more new paid-for subscription products than in the same period last year.”
There has been a growth in the take up of connected services. As a result, On Demand usage has tripled year-on-year and there are 3.7 million Sky Go unique users, up 13% year-on-year. “Our investment in connected TV services is delivering results. Almost 50% of Sky homes are now connected and this is transforming their viewing experience: connected customers are watching more TV, they’re more loyal and they’re more likely to recommend Sky. Our expanded Box Sets service has been particularly popular with a fourfold increase in viewing of top titles like 24 and Game of Thrones,” added Darroch.
“All this has enabled us to continue to deliver strong rates of top-line growth. Revenues increased by 7% in the first nine months compared with the same period last year. And, in a year of investment, adjusted EBITDA of £1.2 billion is a good result. We’re now more than three quarters of the way through our plan for the year and are on track to deliver returns in line with our expectations,” he said.
Commenting on the latest figures, Mark Errington, CEO at OASYS, said:
“The announcement from BSkyB today that it has seen growth in subscribers and revenue over the last nine months, despite the continued expense of its battle for sports rights with BT. The figures go to show that despite streaming businesses like Netflix and Amazon Prime beginning to commission their own content, the traditional linear TV schedule remains the cornerstone of consumers viewing experience – with shows like Game of Thrones and Mad Men leading the way for Sky in particular.
“The range of services now available to consumers certainly gives them the opportunity to consume TV content in new ways, but the focal point of the living room is still the TV and its daily schedule. What many commentators continually forget is that everything evolves from traditional, scheduled TV – consumers record shows from it and there is no VoD without it. Linear TV builds brands and is a starting point for consumers to engage with the range of other services now available to them.”
(1) Adjusted revenue as presented here is from recurring activities. It excludes revenues earned from the discontinued retailing of the ESPN channel in the current and prior periods. The current period includes the consolidation of revenues from the acquired O2 broadband and fixed line telephony business (the “Acquired O2 Business”)
