Foxtel Continues Digital Momentum in Australia

Australian direct-to-home (DTH) operator Foxtel ended June with close to 1.3 million domestic direct customers, the company announced Aug. 9. The operator added 150,000 of those customers in the last year, an increase of more than 13 percent over the same period in 2006.

In terms of its full-year numbers, Foxtel recorded a profit (before tax and refinancing charges, after depreciation and interest and including joint ventures) of 76.0 million Australian dollars ($65.26 million) up from last year’s maiden profit of 4.0 million Australian dollars ($3.43 million).

In January, the operator announced that it had completed the migration of all subscribers to its digital platform in less than three years after the launch of its digital services in Australia.
Foxtel has also seen strong take-up of its personal video recorder (PVR) service, iQ. More than 15 percent of its subscriber base have been taking the service, up from 10 percent at the same stage last year, and one-third of all of its new subscribers are reportedly taking the service. Subscriber growth and increases in average revenues per user have also boosted the company’s take as overall revenues for the year reached 1.42 billion Australian dollars ($1.22 billion).