BSkyB added about 51,000 customers in the 2007 first quarter to bring its total subscribers in the United Kingdom and Ireland to nearly 8.5 million, the company announced May 2.

While subscriber numbers grew, there is concern about BSkyB’s churn rate, close to 14 percent. BSkyB said it was due to “changes in its promotional strategy.”

There were some positive elements in the results. BSkyB has nearly 250,000 high-definition subscribers and nearly 2.2 million subscribers to its Sky+ personal video recorder service, passing the operator’s 25 percent penetration target three years ahead of schedule.

BSkyB’s new broadband service has more than 550,000 customers, representing solid progress with more than 60 percent coverage.