James Murdoch new chairman as Sky posts all-time high for UK and Ireland


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| 29 January 2016




Pay-TV behemoth Sky has recorded its highest ever first-half operating profit, up 12% to £747 million in the first six months of its current financial year.



At the heart of the profit push was strong revenue growth of 5% to £5.7 billion, itself driven by strong demand from customers in particular in the UK and Ireland where the 337,000 new customers represented the highest increase in subs in ten years.

Yet perhaps just as significantly, the company announced that Nicholas Ferguson was to step down as chairman and as a director after 12 years on the board to be replaced by controversial media figure James Murdoch.

“We have had another very strong half as we continue to transform Sky, broadening our business and expanding into new markets and customer segments,” commented group chief executive Jeremy Darroch. “This strategy is delivering today and opening up significant growth opportunities for the future. We are pursuing those opportunities with energy and purpose ... All of our markets are now clearly benefiting from our leadership in content and innovation and being part of the broader Sky. The launch of Sky Q will redefine our top-end TV experience and extend our market-leading portfolio of products to serve the needs of every customer.”

"We have extended our lead in content with a ground-breaking new long-term deal with Showtime, which complements both Sky’s original productions and our partnership with HBO to make Sky Atlantic the best destination for world-class drama across Europe. This will bring customers the return of great shows that include Fortitude, Game of Thrones and The Affair alongside new productions such as Vinyl, Billions and The Young Pope.”

In an associated move Sky announced that its NOW TV over-the-top service is to launch what it calls its most advanced TV box. It will offer access to the Sky pay-TV channels as well as over 60 live free-to-air channels. By the end of the quarter ended 31 December, Sky said that it had over ten million homes connected and promised ‘significant’ enhancements coming to Sky+.