ONdigital Prepares For Christmas Rush As Subs Reach 896,000
ONdigital has added a further 16% to its subscriber base, taking the total number of subscriptions to its digital terrestrial service to 896,000. The group, which is jointly-owned by Carlton Communications and Granada Media, said the figure was double that for the same period last year.
Chief executive Stuart Prebble, said: “In less than two years we have built a business with close to a million customers, and we are on track to meet the very ambitious targets we set ourselves two years ago.”
The group hopes to reach one million subs by the end of the year and intense competition with rival BSkyB, whose target is 5m (see BSkyB Reports Losses As Digital Subs Reach Record High), is expected to set in during the final quarter of 2000 as both sides target Christmas shoppers.
ONdigital has announced a raft of additional services as it prepares to go head-to-head with its rival. A new electronic programme guide, ONview, will be launched this week, allowing viewers to access a full day’s listings for the service and click through to their channel of choice. Two Way TV, the games channel, will join the platform in January and ONrequest, the group’s pay-per-view venture, has added MGM to its studio line-up.
ONnet, its television internet service, (see ONdigital Unveils Interactive Television Launch Plans), has signed up 20,000 customers in its first month and users have made more than 12m ad impressions, according to figures released today. A further 17 brands have now joined the portal including beeb.com and the Radio Times.
The group hopes to attract additional advertising revenue with its netlink system, with allows viewers to click straight through from a TV broadcast to an internet site. Mobile operator Orange will be the first advertiser to use the system when it is broadcast during a UEFA Champions League match on 21 November.
ONleisure is the group’s new commercial arm and has signed up Whitbread, Punch, Scottish and Newcastle and Regency Inns to offer its sports and music channels within pubs and bars.
ONdigital is continuing to improve coverage its service, which currently reaches around 70% of the population. A spokesperson for the group said that delays had been created by bureaucracy at Government and regulatory level but that roll-out was now pushing ahead as the issue gained increased political priority.
ONdigital: 020 7819 8000