Pay-TV giant Sky will make all its television channels available without the need for a satellite dish for the first time as it looks to stop customers quitting the group.
The group announced it would launch a broadband service in the UK next year to give millions of customers who cannot or do not want to install a satellite dish access to its full TV service.
It comes as Sky revealed surging numbers of UK customers leaving amid competition from rivals such as BT, while half-year results showed a 9% fall in earnings after spiralling football rights costs.
Things keep getting in the way of your next episode fix?
— Sky (@SkyUK) January 18, 2017
This could be just what you need: pic.twitter.com/GOoA7mJP6P
The group – which recently accepted an £11.7 billion takeover offer from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox – reported underlying operating profits of £679 million for the six months to December 31, following a £314 million rise in Premier League costs.
Operating profits fell 18% in the UK and Ireland to £620 million.
Its broadband TV service will offer a version of its Sky Q service delivered entirely over the internet.
It will launch initially in the UK, but Sky said it plans to expand the service elsewhere in Europe “over time”.
The group said it signed up 205,000 new customers in the UK and Ireland in its first half, but its so-called rate of churn – customers quitting the group – surged to 11.6% from 10.2% a year earlier.
Sky blamed this on a rising number of broadband customers, who it said tend to switch around more, as well as tough promotional competition from rivals.
It has come under pressure amid competition from the likes of BT and Netflix.
Sky also plans to launch a loyalty programme in the UK this year to help retain customers, following the success of a similar scheme in Italy.
Jeremy Darroch, group chief executive of Sky, said: “In a year in which we are absorbing significantly higher programming costs, as a result of the step up in Premier League costs, our financial performance has been good.”
