[Satellite Today – 5-1-08] BSkyB has nearly  9 million subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the company announced April 30.
    High-definition (HD) growth remains robust, with 465,000 subscribers accessing HD services at the end of March. BSkyB also has 1.4 million broadband customers and nearly 3.4 million people accessing its personal video recorder service, Sky+.
    “This was another strong quarter for BSkyB in operational terms combining solid [direct-to-home] subscriber growth, strong [average revenue per user] improvements, low churn and good take-up of new products,” Sarah Simon, a media equity analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a statement. “Our view on BSkyB is that post the broadband launch it has moved into a phase reminiscent of that of the early 2000s under Tony Bell with a controlled growth model focusing on more modest growth in the pace of customer volumes but with strong [average revenue per user], lower churn and lower subscriber acquisition cost.”