Videotron adds 42k digital cable subscribers in 4Q09

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Videotron logo

MONTREAL, Québec – Quebecor Inc. (“Quebecor”) [Toronto: QBR.A; QBR.B] today reported its annual and fourth quarter consolidated financial results for 2009.

Telecommunications

In Quebecor Media’s Telecommunications segment, Videotron is the largest cable operator in Québec and the third largest in Canada by customer base. Its state-of-the-art network passes 2,575,300 homes and serves approximately 1,967,500 customers. At December 31, 2009, Vidéotron had 1,777,000 cable television customers, including 1,084,100 subscribers to its illico Digital TV service.

Customer statistics – Cable television

The combined customer base for all of Videotron’s cable television services increased by 61,400 (3.6%) in 2009, compared with increases of 77,500 and 65,700 in 2008 and 2007 respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2009, Videotron recorded combined customer growth for its cable television services for the 18th consecutive quarter, i.e., since the end of the second quarter of 2005. As of December 31, 2009, Videotron had 1,777,000 customers for its cable television services for a household penetration rate of 69.0% (number of subscribers as a proportion of total homes passed by Videotron’s network, i.e., 2,575,300 homes as of the end of December 2009), compared with 67.5% a year earlier.

  • The customer base for illico Digital TV stood at 1,084,100 at the end of 2009, an increase of 156,800 (16.9%) during the year, compared with 159,100 and 144,600 in 2008 and 2007 respectively. As of December 31, 2009, illico Digital TV had a household penetration rate of 42.1% versus 36.5% a year earlier.
  • Migration from analog to digital service was the main reason for the 95,400 (-12.1%) decrease in subscribers in the customer base for analog cable television services in 2009. By comparison, the number of subscribers to analog cable services decreased by 81,600 and 78,900 in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

Operating Results (‘000):

                                                     2009    2008
                           ------------------------------  ------
                           Dec 31  Sep 30  Jun 30  Mar 31  Dec 31
                           ------  ------  ------  ------  ------
Homes Passed                2,575   2,574   2,563   2,552   2,543
Basic Subscribers           1,777   1,760   1,733   1,729   1,716
Extended Tier Subscribers   1,565   1,542   1,510   1,503   1,484

Digital Set-Top Boxes       1,484   1,400   1,317   1,271   1,210

Digital Subscribers         1,084   1,042     990     963     927

Cable television year-end customer numbers, 2005-2009 (thousands):

              2009     2008     2007     2006     2005
           -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
Analog       692.9    788.3    869.9    948.8  1,031.5
Digital    1,084.1    927.3    768.2    623.6    474.6
           -------  -------  -------  -------  -------
  Total    1,777.0  1,715.6  1,638.1  1,572.4  1,506.1

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