Sky sails flagship to Germany

European satcaster Sky revealed plans to launch ultra-HD networks and its flagship entertainment channel in Germany as it reported a 12% rise in annual profits.

Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch

Sky1 will be rolled out in Germany in November with a local version of Endemol Shine format MasterChef topping its bill. The production giant’s local division is producing 24 episodes of the cooking format.

Family entertainment will also feature on the network, including Desperate Housewives, The Tunnel: Sabotage and Grey’s Anatomy.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s CEO, said the company’s international plans were ahead of schedule, with ultra-HD services set to be launched in the UK and Germany.

Its Sky Kids app, which has already launched in the UK and Ireland, will also now be rolled out across Europe while a virtual reality app and 12 shorts are also being prepared, following its VR studio launch.

The pay TV operator added that its Sky Q set-top box, launched earlier this year in the UK, would reach Germany and Italy later this year.

The company also said six more pan-European dramas would be broadcast across its services, in addition to shows such as the second run of Gomorrah and The Last Panthers, which have aired over the last 12 months.

Darroch described the 12-month results, which saw profits up to £1.56bn (US$2.06bn), as “another excellent year” for Sky as it added more than 800,000 new customers across services including broadband and telecoms.

Total revenue rose by 7% to £11.96bn, while revenues from Sky’s UK and Ireland operations topped £8bn for the first time. Darroch said the takeover of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia had helped it “leverage the many opportunities of scale”.

He also played down the effect of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union and said it would not affect the company’s plans. The company is set to remain in the UK despite the outcome of last month’s referendum and has also been preparing to enter new territories on the continent.

The company is dealing with paying £600m more for its Premier League football rights from next year but Sky said it expected revenue growth of between 5% to 7% and that a focus on keeping costs down would “substantially absorb” any impact.

In related news, distributor Sky Vision has sold the fifth run of factual series Ross Kemp Extreme World to BBC Australia, with free TV rights picked up by ABC. BBC Global Channels has added the title in the Nordics, Africa and Poland, while Discovery has acquired the series for Benelux.