Sky Italia subscribers have dropped to 4.6 million, compared to 5 million in the pre-Covid period, according to market figures obtained by business daily Milano Finanza.

The decline is partly down to a lack of live sports events as lockdown measures came in, but also as a result of rampant piracy.

The negative results have prompted CEO Maximo Ibarra to consider a staff rationalisation plan, which would be implemented from January 2021 and would see the loss of 350 jobs out of a workforce of around 4,000.

There is also positive news, as the number of DTT subscribers continues to grow – reaching 600,000, and optical fibre activations are above initial forecasts. DTT ARPU, however, is around €27, compared to an ARPU of €41-€42 for satellite subscribers.

Much of the future strategy will depend on the results of the upcoming Serie A football rights auction for the period 2021-2024.

Other posts by :

1. Amazon Leo satellites en route to French Guiana
2. Deutsche Bank reveals targets for AST SpaceMobile
3. AST SpaceMobile boss outlines benefits
4. Report: LEO build-out accelerates
5. Germany outlines space commitment
6. Analysis: Impact of AT&T on US telcos and cable
7. Bezos rocket production boosted
8. Musk delays Moon landing until 2027
9. Hughes Satellite facing cash crunch

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Pay TV

Tags: sky, sky italia