Digital switchover to lift Premiere
Subscriptions likely to rise to 10 million
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Premiere topper Michael Boernicke, speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Munich on Thursday, said he expects customer numbers to reach as high as 10 million in the medium to long term, with annual sales ranging between E2 billion ($3 million) and $4.6 billion.
Last year Premiere had a total of 4.3 million customers and annual sales of $1.5 billion.
While Boernicke earlier this year announced that Premiere was interested in buying the ProSiebenSat.1 broadcasting group’s free-to-air web Sat.1, he said the paybox’s medium-term goals could be reached without the purchase of a free TV channel.
Such an acquisition would, however, allow the company to achieve the upper end of the target, he added.
ProSiebenSat.1 execs and shareholders have said the channel is not for sale.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has in recent months increased its stake in Premiere to a current 25%. Boernicke said he had no information that News Corp. intended to raise its stake in the company.
As expected, shareholders at the meeting approved the expansion of Premiere's supervisory board to include News Corp. reps Thomas Mockridge, chief exec of Sky Italia, and Mark Andrew Williams, News Corp.’s chief financial officer for Europe and Asia.
Also elected to the supervisory board was former SBS Broadcasting CEO Markus Tellenbach, who not only ran Premiere when it was controlled by former owner Leo Kirch, but also German channel Vox when Murdoch was one of its main shareholders.
