ONdigital Hit 1 Million Subscriber Target In Time For New Year

A strong final quarter brought ONdigital sales up to its one million subscriber target by 31 December, the company has announced. ONdigital’s customer base grew by 134,000 during the quarter, reaching 1,012,000 by the end of the year, an 83% increase compared to December 1999.

Churn continues to be an issue, however, with 15-20% continuing as the expected rate for the year. It is hoped that as the customer base matures this figure will drop. One factor which could keep customers on side will be the new channels offered on the platform. Channel 4’s new digital entertainment channel, E4, has signed a carriage deal with ONdigital and will be showing first run episodes of popular programmes including Friends and ER from its launch tomorrow. Children’s channel Nickelodeon and the Paramount Comedy Channel have been available on the platform since Christmas, and a new sports channel will join the line-up in autumn, taking advantage of ONdigital’s deal with the Football League and Worthington Cup to show 88 live matches per season (see ITV And ONdigital Secure Football League Rights).

ONdigital’s interactive service, ONnet, which launched in September last year (see ONdigital Launches TV Internet Service) now claims 100,000 users of online services in 70,000 subscribing households, who now have access to 56 brands. An interactive football service is planned from February this year.

ONdigital: 020 7819 8000 www.ondigital.co.uk

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