Telenet adds 20,000 digital TV subscribers in 2Q 2013

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013
Telenet logo

Lower net intake of digital TV subscribers as last year’s growth was boosted by our analog channel reshuffle program. Net loss of 8,700 basic cable TV subscribers in Q2 2013 reached lowest level since Q2 2008

MECHELEN — Telenet Group Holding NV (“Telenet” or the “Company”) (Euronext Brussels: TNET) announces its unaudited consolidated results under International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (“EU IFRS”) for the six months ended June 30, 2013.

Subscribers to our Telenet Digital TV platform grew 12% year”on”year to 1,453,200 at the end of June 30, 2013. Over the first six months of 2013, we attracted 53,000 net digital TV subscribers, of which 20,100 were added in Q2 2013.

Subscribers to total basic analog and digital cable television services were 2,097,500 at the end of June 2013, which represented approximately 73% of homes passed by our network. This represented a net organic loss of 20,100 basic cable TV subscribers since the start of 2013.

At the end of June 2013, we launched a new television product, “TV with a card”, using the CI+ technology (Common Interface Plus), which comes as standard in the latest TV sets. By placing a CI+ module with a smart card in his TV set, the customer can watch linear television in digital picture and sound quality, without the need of a set”top box or additional cables. Our “HD Digicorder”, however, remains the ideal device for customers who require more advanced functionalities such as an EPG, VOD and the ability to record programs.

In early March 2013, we introduced our new “YeloTV” over”the”top TV application with an enriched user interface, additional content channels for live streaming and several new features such as the possibility to watch recorded content from the set”top box on the second screen. We already have 400,000 unique customers using YeloTV on their mobile devices, which has doubled since the introduction of our new app four months ago. In Q2 2013, we rolled out the “YeloTV” user interface on the set”top box, which has the same look and feel as the over”the”top TV application.

This new TV experience provides a significant enhancement to home entertainment as customers benefit from a totally revamped user interface and a seamless media integration with their other digital devices. More importantly, “YeloTV” is backwards compatible with the latest generation of our installed HD PVR boxes, covering more than 50% of our total digital TV customer base thereby avoiding significant incremental capital expenditures for set”top box replacements.

Cable TV subscriptions (as of and for the six months ended):

           June 2013  June 2012  Change %
           ---------  ---------  --------
Total      2,097,500  2,152,200       -3%
Analogue     644,300    856,700      -25%
Digital    1,453,200  1,295,500       12%

Reclassification of basic digital cable television subscribers: Effective April 1, 2013, Telenet reclassified 166,400 digital cable television subscribers to analog cable television subscribers to reflect a change in the definition of basic digital cable television subscribers. As of Q2 2013, Telenet’s analog cable television subscriber base also includes subscribers who may use a purchased set”top box or other means to receive its basic digital cable channels without subscribing to any services that would require the payment of recurring monthly fees in addition to the basic analog service fee (“basic digital cable subscriber”). For comparative reasons, Telenet has retroactively applied the change to the prior year periods.