Sky reveal increase in Irish digital subscribers

Sky have announced a drop in the number of homes viewing Sky on cable 18,000, but have confirmed that there are 30,000 more digital subscribers in Ireland.
Following the release of Sky's quarterly report up to December 31 2001, the regional breakdown reveals that there are now 250,000 subscribers – up from the September 2001 figure of 220,000.
Although the number of homes receiving cable Sky transmissions fell from 631,000 to 613,000 over the past year, the overall figures were welcomed by the company, who plan to launch their interactive services in the near future.
A Sky spokesman said: "There has been strong demand in Ireland for our digital TV service and Ireland now ranks in third place in Europe in terms of digital TV penetration."
The quarterly report also revealed that the number of people in the UK now receiving Sky has increased by 218,000 to 5.71 million. In the same period, the average revenue per user increased by 11 per cent to £331 per annum.
The total number of subscribers to Sky's broadcasts across all platforms was up by one tenth in the quarter to 11.2 million.
Sky claim this represents 44 percent of UK and Irish television-owning households.
(GMcG)