ITV Digital To Break Even By 2004

ITV Digital claims that it will reach its break even target of 2004, despite the widely reported difficulties experienced by the recently rebranded (see Comedy Duo Front ONdigital Rebrand) digital TV business.

It was announced today that 48,000 new subscribers were signed up during the last quarter, bringing the total as at 30 June to 1.14m and overtaking previously gloomy forecasts. Churn rate has been brought below forecast level to 23%.

ITV chief executive Stuart Prebble described the figures as “solid”, adding: “We are delivering against our targets. The rebranding is a major step in the evolution of this business and the decision to put the powerful ITV brand behind the platform is an indication of our shareholder’s commitment to it.”

Shareholder commmitment was in doubt last month when it was suggested that many Granada shareholders would prefer to scrap the service (see Granada Pressured To Close ONdigital), shortly after Granada chief Charles Allen had suggested that the business was vulnerable to foreign acquisition (see Granada Warns Of ITV Disaster).

ITV Digital: 020 7819 8000 www.itvdigital.com

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