Kate Bulkley, Media Analyst.

Media Money: Does Sky have The Force to reach its 10 million sub target in a recession?

By Kate Bulkley

Broadcast News

For Broadcast August 06, 2008

I have always been a big Star Wars fan, and Luke Skywalker was a favourite - but I never thought a Skywalker would come into my life.

BSkyB chief exec Jeremy Darroch has changed all that. A team of Skywalkers are going to help save the BSkyB empire by knocking on the front door of the 14 million UK homes that aren't Sky subscribers.

It's true. The latest masterplan to help BSkyB hit its 10 million customer target by 2010 is a team of door-to-door salesmen. But can a Skywalker or two strike back against the impact of a global consumer recession and Sky's ability to hit 10 million subs?

At the latest quarter's financial press conference, Darroch outlined reasonable progress by the James Murdoch-less company. The quarterly net customer growth was 92,000, higher than any gain in the last five years; year-on-year churn was down to 9.8%, the lowest since 2005; and the overall numbers looked pretty impressive, with subscription revenue up 11% even as wholesale and advertising revenues declined 13% and 7% respectively.

But it was the Skywalkers that caught my eye. They intend to pick off new subscribers like an Imperial stormtrooper shooting down a gaggle of Ewoks. Darroch says the Skywalkers provide the most low-cost way of reaching new customers and they can also listen to direct feedback while selling a whole range of Sky products.

At first I thought the plan smacked of desperation but perhaps the personal sales touch is what's required. If Luke Skywalker can smash the Empire practically on his own, just think of what a whole fleet of them could do for BSkyB.

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