Cyfrowy Polsat contract pay TV subscribers down 22,000 in 1Q 2019

Tuesday, May 14th, 2019
Cyfrowy Polsat logo

Thanks to the sustained demand for Multiroom services, and the successfully selling paid OTT services, the total number of pay TV contract services increased by 93 thousand YoY and numbers 5.1 million now

Cyfrowy Polsat Group started 2019 very well – around 300 thousand more multiplay customers and in excess of 500 thousand additional contract services year-on-year, with churn again at a record low level of 7.2%. The Group’s strong financial performance is confirmed by its EBITDA which, in accordance with the new accounting standards, exceeded PLN 1 billion. Net profit, in turn, was 25% higher than the average amount expected by stock exchange analysts. During Q1 2019 the Group launched new attractive offers to the market, including Fixed-line Internet Access from Plus and cable TV based on IPTV technology, along with the new EVOBOX IP set-top box. These moves added strength to the Group’s multiplay strategy.

Pay TV RGUs

                            2017                                        2018       2019
            --------------------  ------------------------------------------  ---------
                   3Q         4Q         1Q         2Q         3Q         4Q         1Q    Δ QoQ    Δ YoY
            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  -------  -------
Contract    4,882,505  4,942,640  4,984,391  5,027,520  5,038,210  5,098,917  5,077,221  -21,696   92,830
 Multiroom  1,072,513  1,099,582  1,114,833  1,127,285  1,141,820  1,160,353  1,167,983    7,630   53,150
Prepaid        63,627     79,561     75,159     59,722     91,261     95,685    144,586   48,901   69,427

Polsat Group is Poland’s leading multimedia group. Within the scope of our activities we provide a comprehensive array of integrated media and telecommunication services including pay TV services offered mainly by Cyfrowy Polsat – the largest pay TV provider in Poland and one of the leading satellite platforms in Europe – and our subsidiary Netia. We offer our customers access to about 170 TV channels broadcast in satellite and IPTV technologies as well as additional modern OTT services (e.g. Cyfrowy Polsat GO, pay-per-view, Video On Demand) and Multiroom. We also provide online video services through IPLA, the leader on Poland’s online video market, by offering them in a subscription and transaction (PPV) model, as well as free of charge (financed by advertising revenue).

Introduction of new models of set-top boxes

Cyfrowy Polsat TV markets

In March 2019 we introduced to the market EVOBOX IP, a new set-top box dedicated to the IPTV service. EVOBOX IP is the first device in the offer of Cyfrowy Polsat which enables the reception of TV channels via the Internet in the closed telecommunication network.

This represents a next stage of execution of our long-term strategy aimed at providing our customers with free and flexible access to content that they like and expect, regardless of the technology of their delivery. The latest set-top box is equipped with modern functions, including reStart (allows to watch the selected programs from linear TV channels from the beginning), TimeShift (allows to pause and rewind the selected programs up to 3 hours) or CatchUP (allows to watch selected programs even up to 7 days back from the date of their original broadcast), thanks to which a customer is able to personalize TV watching experience even more. Moreover, the set-top box has an integrated Wi-Fi module, an automatic function of authentication of the Multiroom HD service in the local home network and software ensuring intuitive and simple operation. Thanks to Cyfrowy Polsat GO and HBO GO online services, it allows users to watch thousands of movies, TV services and on-demand programs – whenever the viewer decides to, also before their broadcasting in TV.

EVOBOX IP is a third set-top box introduced by Cyfrowy Polsat to the market in the recent months, the fourth device of EVOBOX series (after EVOBOX PVR, HD and LITE) and another model manufactured, similarly to numerous models from the last few years, at a plant in Mielec which is a part of Cyfrowy Polsat Group.