DESPITE most families feeling the pinch of the recession, more than 338,000 new customers have signed up for satellite services over the last nine months.
The increase in its customer base has allowed BSkyB to report a 23 per cent rise in operating profit to £622 million, owing mainly to a strong response to its HD services.
BSkyB recorded a 43 per cent rise in customers during the period, meaning t
he company now serves 9.3 million households with either a television, internet or telephone package.
During the period, customers signed up in their masses to the Sky+HD service, with 243,000 new additions.
One million households now use the service, which directors have described as one of their "biggest success stories". BSkyB reduced the price of the HD box to £49 from £150, insisting that the anticipated rise in demand would create 1000 jobs in customer service and installation.
Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: "We have made a strong start to calendar 2009. In difficult times, customers are making careful choices and responding to the combination of quality and value that we offer."
He added: "In total, almost one in five homes in the UK use Sky+ to get more from their TV viewing experience. As a result of this strong demand, we have already been able to create around 750 new jobs in our customer service and installation teams, as part of the 1000 we announced in January."
Mr Darroch paid tribute to those BSKYB employees based in its Scottish call centres at Livingston, Dunfermline and Uddingston. He said: "These good results would not have been possible without our people in Scotland.
"Our contact centres in Livingston, Dunfermline and Uddingston have done a great job meeting strong demand from new and existing customers and our installers have pulled out all the stops to get so many customers hooked up to HD."
More than five million households now have Sky+ across the UK, with 406,000 new customers recently signing up.
The company is further benefiting from the 1.4m customers – 15 per cent of its base – who now take all three of its main services: TV, broadband, and telephone, which is up on the 0.8m who signed up last year.
Mr Darroch said: "Looking ahead to the rest of calendar 2009, we expect conditions to remain challenging.
"In this environment, and at a time when people are spending more time at home, we will continue to provide our customers great entertainment and money-saving broadband and telephony.
"At the same time, we will stay focused on cost efficiency to allow us to invest sensibly in areas that drive long-term value for the business, such as high definition, with the objective of emerging stronger from the downturn."
