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Sat-UK #113 - 28.09.97: BSKYB CABLE & SPORT




Sat-UK Report #113:
- BSkyB Targets New Cable TV For Subscriber Growth
- BSkyB Eyes Big Benefits With Sports Pay-Per-View
sunday 28th september 1997
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Email: dominic@bigrp.demon.co.uk
Sat-UK Web: http://www.sat-net.com/sat-uk/
UK Satellite Control: http://www.sat-net.com/uk-satellite/
And now the news:


---------- BSkyB Targets New Cable TV For Subscriber Growth
(source: UK Satellite Control. News information copyright (c) 1996-1997
UK SATELLITE. Neil Anthony Powell. All rights reserved.)

Future multichannel viewers receiving services through British Sky
Broadcasting will more than likely be new cable TV subscribers - not
home satellite customers - during the next five years, according to
research from Kleinwort Benson and Screen Digest. BSkyB offers its
programming via satellite and through cable TV. The News Corp.-backed
service presently has more than six million subscribers in the United
Kingdom and Ireland. Around 3.5 million presently receive Sky broadcasts
via satellite, while 2.3 million get programming through cable.
According to Kleinwort Benson, by the year 2001 about 4.8 million of
BSkyB's customers are projected to come from cable. Close to 4.6 million
will be DBS subscribers, according to the research. Cable TV
successfully outstripped satellite sales in the first three quarters of
1996, according to Cable and Satellite Yearbook 1997. Christmas sales
for home satellite equipment, however, kept the dish ahead as far as
sales for the entire year. Since its introduction in the early 1990s,
satellite has dominated cable for customers throughout Britain and
Ireland. BSkyB said one in four U.K. homes now pay to receive the
service. The total number of paying subscribers increased by 878,000
during the company's fiscal year which ended in June - a similar level
when compared to the previous period.


---------- BSkyB Eyes Big Benefits With Sports Pay-Per-View
(source: UK Satellite Control. News information copyright (c) 1996-1997
UK SATELLITE. Neil Anthony Powell. All rights reserved.)

The best soccer clubs in England's Premier League could earn more than
500 million pounds ($810 million) from television rights to live
pay-television matches in the 2003/2004 season, a study released on
Wednesday suggested. And British Sky Broadcasting, expected to dominate
future sports pay-per-view in that country, could indirectly benefit
from the coverage, according to the report from sports consultancy
Oliver & Ohlbaum and business publisher Fletcher Research. The top teams
- Manchester United , Newcastle United and Liverpool - will be the big
winners as pay-per-view and new digital services are introduced over the
next few years. By the 2003/2004 season, around 2.5 million households
will have pay-per-view and digital capabilities, which may generate
close to 280 million pounds annually for Premier League clubs. New
sports services alone could boost BSkyB's profits by 100 million pounds
annually, the report said. BSkyB has used soccer to fuel its rapid
growth, and former chief executive Sam Chisholm has called its
relationship with the Premier League "one of the great corporate
romances of our time." The News Corp.-backed service has six million
subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.


All contents (C) 1997 Dominic Sedghi, except where indicated. All rights
reserved. The above may not be reproduced without written consent.
Information is subject to change and/or may be incorrect.


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