KDG subs up
August 31, 2009
German cable operator Kabel Deutschland (KDG) added 23,000 digital pay-TV subs during the 12 months to the end of June, a 2.8% increase on the previous year for a total of 842,000 digital pay-TV RGUs at the end of the first half of the year. The proportion of subscribers taking premium services, including pay-TV, DVR and triple-play, reached 31.5% compared to 24.8% at the end of 2008. Including the Sky Deutschland subscribers served via KDG's network, digital TV penetration was 21%.
KDG had 1.58 million internet and telephony RGUs at the end of June, up 69.4% on the previous year. Internet RGUs numbered 787,000 compared with 482,000 a year earlier, while phone RGUs numbered 797,000, up from 453,000. The operator said it expected to pass the one million mark for internet and telephony customers during the final quarter of the year.
By the end of June, subscribers took an average of 1.30 services compared to 1.21 a year earlier, meaning total RGUs stood at 11.8 million. Total subscribers were down slightly to 9.1 from 9.2 million. APRU was up to E11.71 from E10.66. KDG reported adjusted EBITDA of E158.5m, up 18.1% year-on-year.