Sky Deutschland adds 304,000 direct subscribers in 2013

UNTERFÖHRING — Sky Deutschland has announced its Q4 2013 results. In 2013, the customer base expanded strongly across all services. The number of direct subscribers grew by 304,000 to 3,667,000 customers at year end (2012: 3,363,000). In addition, the number of wholesale subscribers increased by 143,000 to 268,000 (2012: 125,000) as a consequence of the inclusion of Deutsche Telekom’s former Ligatotal IPTV and mobile customers. Gross additions amounted to 698,000, showing strong underlying demand, and reflecting the initiatives to improve the quality of customer growth introduced at the beginning of 2013.

Sky’s Premium HD offering grew by 285,000 (2012: 540,000) to 1,799,000 (2012: 1,514,000). When including customers with free access to this package, for example those with the first year free as part of a two-year contract, 2013 saw the number of Premium HD customers increase by an additional 143,000, with a total of 2,025,000 customers now receiving Sky’s Premium HD channels. This means that over half of Sky customers (55.2 percent; 2012: 47.5 percent) now enjoy Sky’s market leading HD offering.

Sky+ showed continued success as the number of Sky+ customers accelerated by 551,000 (2012: 518,000) to 1,480,000 (2012: 929,000). At year end, 40.4 percent of Sky customers enjoyed the unmatched convenience of a Sky+ receiver in their home (2012: 27.6 percent).

Subscriber development (’000)

                                   Q4 13  Q3 13  Q2 13  Q1 13  Q4 12  Q3 12  Q2 12  Q1 12
                                   -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Direct subscribers at beginning    3,529  3,453  3,405  3,363  3,212  3,132  3,085  3,012
Gross additions                      244    185    131    137    260    188    124    155
Churn                               -106   -109    -84    -95   -109   -108    -77    -82
Net growth                           138     76     48     42    151     80     47     73
Direct subscribers at end          3,667  3,529  3,453  3,405  3,363  3,212  3,132  3,085

Premium HD subscribers
 at end of period                  1,799  1,752  1,697  1,613  1,514  1,337  1,172  1,071
 penetration rate (in %)            49.1   49.6   49.1   47.4   45.0   41.6   37.4   34.7

Sky+
 subscribers at end of period      1,480  1,296  1,171  1,065    929    730    584    508
 penetration rate (in %)            40.4   36.7   33.9   31.3   27.6   22.7   18.6   16.5

Sky Zweitkarte (second smartcard) customers increased by 24 percent (2012: 10.3 percent) to 429,000 (2012: 346,000), demonstrating that a growing number of customers want to enjoy Sky’s outstanding entertainment line-up simultaneously on multiple TV sets in their home.

Sky Go and Snap by Sky: extending leadership in over-the-top pay-TV services

With the number of customer sessions more than doubling in 2013 to 70 million (+109 percent yoy), Sky Go delivered a new record performance. During the year, the service was significantly expanded, advancing its leadership position in Germany and Austria. All live Bundesliga matches, in addition to the live matches of all other major football competitions, are now accessible via 3G/4G. Further new blockbuster movies and high-quality series – most exclusive to Sky and available 12 months before anywhere else – have also been added to the unique content portfolio. In 2013, Sky Go delivered over 15,000 hours of unique content, including 600+ blockbuster films, 90+ complete series box sets containing over 1,000 episodes, 700+ children’s programs and 3,000+ live sport events. New features of Sky Go include a dual language option, as well as the Sky Guide, with its complete range of new functions, such as remote recording on Sky+. Sky Go customers can look forward to 2014, as additional exciting features plus a total redesign will be introduced.

As a perfect extension for Sky customers, and also available for those without a Sky subscription, the Snap by Sky over-the-top service was successfully launched in December 2013. It provides a steadily growing entertainment library with thousands of titles available on-demand just after their Sky window. An expanding range of platforms, such as the web, iPad, iPhone, and on big screens with Samsung Smart TVs and Apple TV via Airplay, makes the new service easily accessible to customers, no matter what platform they choose.