British satellite broadcaster BSkyB said its losses narrowed in the first quarter. BSkyB, which is 40% owned by Rupert Murdoch, said pre-tax losses fell 28% from last year's equivalent to £89.2 million in the three months to September 30. Revenues were up 24% to £643 million.
The UK satellite TV operator also announced an 8% increase in average revenues per user. The company said its annual average revenues per user figures rose to £317 as it aims for a target of £400 by 2005.
But BSkyB said its net subscriber figure fell slightly short of analyst forecasts after completing its switch to digital satellite transmission by turning off its analogue signal.
The figure of 5.498 million digital subscribers compared with analyst forecasts above 5.5 million, and included a 190,000 increase in digital customers and a loss of 145,000 analogue customers.
This led to a small rise in churn, or the cancellation rate, to 10.4% from 10% at the end of the last quarter.
Premiership football as ever remained the main draw for BSkyB, with its Sky Sports channel claiming record audiences for the opening fixtures of the new Premier League season. BSkyB paid £1.1 billion for the right to screen 66 live Premiership games for the three season starting in August 2001.
