[Satellite TODAY Insider 02-25-11] Australian satellite pay-TV operators Foxtel and Austar reported disappointing subscriber growth in 2010 due to the challenging market environment created by the economic recession, the companies announced in their latest financial results issued Feb. 23.
    Austar ended the year with less than 765,000 subscribers, adding about 22,500 subscribers in the 12-month period. The operator’s revenues increased 5 percent to $712.1 million compared to the same stage last year.
    Despite the slower-than-expected year, the operator saw a strong increase in value-added services, with about 71,000 of its subscribers now taking HD services following the launch of the offering at the end of 2009. The operator also revealed that about 31 percent of its customer base now takes its MyStar PVR product.
    The operator has been busy over the last few days selling its 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz spectrum licenses to NBN Co. for $120.2 million. Austar also announced the sale of its mobile customer base to M2 Telecommunications for about $2 million.
    Austar’s pay-TV rival, Foxtel, also saw relatively light subscriber growth in 2010. At the end of December, Foxtel’s direct subscriber base grew to 1.6 million, an increase of about 2.4 percent compared to the same stage last year.
    The operator said the key to its business model has been selling advanced services such as the PVR and HD. About 70 percent of all Foxtel subscribers now access the operator’s iQ services after Foxtel expanded its HD offering in late 2010 to 20 dedicated channels and a dedicated 3-D demonstration channel. Foxtel reported that 25 percent of its subscribers were accessing Foxtel’s HD offering at the end of December.
    Foxtel said it is looking to make up lost ground through a deal it signed this month with Australian telco Telstra, which will see Foxtel provide 30 streaming on-demand channels over Telstra’s T-Box service. Foxtel also completed an agreement in December with Optus to sell Foxtel’s iQHD boxes and HD channels to Optus customers.

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