Financial Review Hints At Job Losses At Sky

Satellite heavyweight, BSkyB, is believed to have appointed Boston Consulting Group to review the company’s efficiency and costs ahead of possible job losses as the company’s marketing costs continue to rise.

The broadcaster announced stronger than expected subscriber growth earlier this month, with uptake of its services in the third quarter of 2004 up by nearly 30,000 year on year. However, the company admitted that its increased subscriber growth is being made at a cost, with marketing spend increasing by £80 million in the nine months to march, totaling £379 million and representing 13% of the company’s total revenue.

A spokesman for the broadcaster refused to comment on any specific financial review, stating that the company’s costs were under “permanent review,” but refused to rule out any job losses.

“No decisions have been taken at this time, so I can’t give any guidance on what might or might not happen in the future,” he said, continuing: “We do have a focus on costs. Efficiency is a core priority for the company, but we have nothing to say at this time on what our possible actions might be.”

Reports over the weekend suggest that up to 1,000 staff could be made redundant, representing roughly 10% of Sky’s workforce, under a review led by chief executive James Murdoch.

Earlier this year saw Sky announce massively increased subscriber figures, representing its strongest quarter since 2002 and prompting Murdoch to dismiss the threat posed by free to air terrestrial TV (see Sky Confident Subscriber Rise Can Quash Freeview).

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