According to its 3rd Quarter Financial Press Release
Subscription Video Services
Revenues in the quarter decreased $77 million, or 14%, compared with the prior year, of which $38 million, or 7%, was due to the negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations. Adjusted Revenues for the segment decreased 7% compared to the prior year. The remainder of the revenue decline was driven by lower subscription revenues due to fewer broadcast subscribers, partially offset by higher revenues from Kayo.
As of March 31, 2020, Foxtel’s total closing subscribers were 2.933 million, an increase of 1% compared to the prior year, primarily due to subscriber growth at Kayo, partially offset by lower broadcast subscribers. 2.208 million of the total closing subscribers were residential and commercial broadcast subscribers, and the remainder consisted of Foxtel Now and Kayo subscribers. As of March 31, 2020, there were 444,000 Kayo subscribers, of which 408,000 were paying subscribers, compared to 199,000 subscribers (148,000 paying) in the prior year. As of May 2nd, there were over 272,000 paying Kayo subscribers, which reflects the impact from the cancellation and/or postponement of sports events as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of March 31, 2020 there were 338,000 Foxtel Now subscribers, of which 317,000 were paying subscribers, compared to 357,000 subscribers (348,000 paying) in the prior year.
Broadcast subscriber churn in the quarter improved to 17.5% from 17.7% in the prior year, primarily driven by improvements at the Foxtel retail channel, partially offset by increased volume of churn from lower-value customers on expiring contracts in wholesale channels. Broadcast ARPU for the quarter was relatively stable at A$79 (US$52).
Segment EBITDA in the quarter decreased $30 million, or 31%, compared with the prior year, primarily due to lower revenues, partially offset by $9 million of lower sports rights and production costs related to the suspension
of sporting events due to COVID-19 and lower entertainment license fees. Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 24%.
