BSkyB, Britain's largest pay-TV company, has resumed dividend payments after reporting a jump in first-half earnings.
BSkyB had suspended its dividend for several years while it rolled out its digital TV service.
The company, now headed by Rupert Murdoch's son James, said operating profits for the six months to the end of December rose 84% to £283m, helped by a rise in subscriber numbers to 7.2 million.
Subscriptions to the company's digital service in Ireland had reached 315,000 by the end of December, up from 297,000 at the end of September 2003. The company Sky News channel is due to launch nightly Irish bulletins in the next few months.
