Move to HD television good news for Sky

INCREASING numbers of households are being lured to high definition TV as they cut back on socialising and watch more television, according to Sky.

The pay TV operator yesterday revealed total customers surged to 9.7m by the end of 2009, with more than two million customers now

subscribing to HD.

Sky also signalled its intent to steal more of the market by announcing it is to sell its HD box as standard to all new and upgrading customers. The move will boost Shipley-based set-top box maker Pace, which makes boxes for Sky.

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Sky added nearly half a million customers to its HD service over the last three months compared to a year ago. It also added 172,000 new customers in total over the period, at the top end of expectations.

"People are spending more time at home," said finance director Andrew Griffiths. "People pay a bit of a premium for HD – 30p a day. But if people are going out less that's not much to keep people entertained."

Sky, which employs 300 at its new customer centre in Leeds, said it was boosted by a trend of increasing customer loyalty, with the percentage of customers who dropped their subscription at 9.6 per cent. Average spend per household also grew 11 per cent to 492.

Sky posted a 10 per cent rise in revenues for the six months to the end of December to 2.9bn. Pre-tax profits rose 30 per cent to 358m.

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