BSkyB's Revenues Rise As HD Subscribers Double

It's taken a while but HDTV seems to have firmly established itself in the UK - underlined by the latest surge in subscriber numbers for BSkyB.

The satellite broadcaster has seen its HD base leap to more than one million subscribers - up 32 per cent on the previous quarter and more than double the 465,000 who signed up last year.

The strong uptake of its Sky+ HD service played a big part in increasing BSkyB's Q3 revenues to GBP £1.4bn - up by 12 per cent compared with Q3 2008.

Pre-tax profits grew 13 per cent to GBP £63m (USD $93m).

Sky+ HD subscribers rose by 243,000 in Q3 2009, helped by a cut in the price of the HD set-top boxes from GBP £150 to £49.

This decision cost the broadcaster around GBP £60m in upront cost but resulted in increased revenues from more expensive subscriptions.

Average annual revenue per customer rose 7 per cent to GBP £452.

Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB's CEO, said the subscriber increase was generated by a growing trend towards HD among customers, alongside its HD box strategy.