Sky’s latest results reveal a huge surge in on-demand TV viewing, driven by services including Sky Go, Sky Store and the various catch-up services available through Sky On Demand.
The number of Sky+HD boxes that are now connected to the internet, enabling access to services like the Sky On Demand, has jumped by over a million (1,001,000) in the last three months.
The total number of Sky+HD boxes now connected stands at 4.4 million, representing a jump of over 2.6 million from a year ago.
Read Recombu Digital’s guide to UK TV customer league tablesThis news comes in the wake of Sky launching a redesigned Sky+HD box complete with built-in WiFi and the offer of free wireless connectors to older customers.
Sky has also announced plans to make connected services even easier to access, through a redesigned menu that places catch-up and on-demand services front and centre.
Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: “Everything that we see tells us that customers love the benefits that come with the connected box. On Demand usage more than trebled year on year and the number of movie rentals through. Sky Store doubled as customers responded to greater flexibility and choice.
“More customers than ever are choosing Sky Go to watch content both in and out of the home, helped by the addition of 14 new entertainment channels and the launch of Sky Go on more connected devices.”
Sky Go racked up a record number of requests in the quarter, surpassing 200 million for the first time. The majority of requests were for on-demand programmes (56 per cent) but live viewing reached a new high, with titles including An Idiot Abroad and Strike Back proving popular over the Christmas week.
In terms of new TV customers, Sky added an extra 77,000 customers to its 10.5 million-strong subscriber base over the last three months. Over half (5,005,000) of Sky TV customers now take HD channels with their TV subscription.
Sky Go is now enjoyed by 3.3 million unique users, figures helped by the launch of Sky Go Extra and Sky’s commitment to increasing availability of Sky Go on Android devices.
Sky recently added popular UKTV channels Dave, Watch, Gold and Alibi to its on demand library, taking the total number of channels and services available on Sky On Demand to 60. Sky Go currently provides access to 51 channels online or on selected mobile devices.
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