Continuing the momentum it has gained over the last 18 months or so, leading UK ISP TalkTalk has added 185,000 net TV subscribers in the first quarter of 2014, bringing the total to 1.1 million.
In its Q1 interim management statement, the ISP also revealed that it enjoyed its sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year revenue growth, up 3.1%, and its seventh consecutive quarter of base growth with 10,000 broadband net adds. The net adds were a key driver in taking total revenue to £434 million, up 3.1% year-on-year.
"Our strategy for growth continues to deliver according to plan, and we are delighted to report another quarter of base growth and year-on-year revenue progress, including continuing strong momentum in new products such as TV," said chief executive Dido Harding. "Importantly, we have also continued to reduce churn on our on-net base, with a third consecutive quarter of improvement, as we continued to improve our customers' experience and drive increased loyalty through new products. We expect revenue growth to again, build through the year and we are on track to deliver our FY15 revenue and margin guidance, and medium term financial targets."
As part of this growth plan, TalkTalk also extended its partnership with BSkyB with new wholesale agreements for Sky Sports and Sky Movies. The agreement will see TalkTalk continue to offer its customers Sky's sports and movies channels for a further two years on its YouView service. The deal also includes the rights to catch up content for the channels.
From 12 August, TalkTalk's Sky Sports customers will receive the brand new channel Sky Sports 5, and the full range of Sky Sports channels will be available to TalkTalk customers through its Sky Sports Boost package. It also includes new rights for TalkTalk to offer Sky Sports Box Office, which lets customers watch major live boxing and wrestling events on a pay-per-view basis. TalkTalk customers have had the ability since early 2014 of purchasing the Sky Sports day pass through its NOW TV over-the-top (OTT) service on TalkTalk's YouView platform.
"We're delighted to be extending our wholesale partnership with TalkTalk to offer their customers access to even more great content from Sky," added the latter's group director, strategy and business development, Mai Fyfield: "As we continue to increase our investment in high quality TV, we want to continue to broaden the distribution of our content and grow our content related revenues. We look forward to TalkTalk customers being able to continue to enjoy the best of Sky, including the brand new Sky Sports 5 channel launching next month."
