BSkyB grows subscriber base

UK pay TV operator BSkyB has revealed it added 74,000 new subscribers during the three months to the end of March, despite increasing competition from the likes of Netflix and BT Sport.

The figure was nearly twice that for the year before and means BSkyB, which operates channels including Sky1, Sky Atlantic and Sky Arts in the UK, has just over 10.6 million total subscribers.

BSkyB also added 284,000 new customers to its mobile VoD service Sky Go Extra, but the number of new broadband customers fell to its lowest quarterly figure since 2006.

The firm is entrenched in a battle with fellow UK media giant BT, which recently acquired sports rights including Premier League and Champions League football from the satcaster.

In related news, Sky Living HD has acquired ABC Studios’ political thriller Scandal. The show’s first two seasons previously aired on UK free-to-air network More4, but will now be available exclusively on the BSkyB-owned channel.