Sky Store Ups 'Buy & Keep' Sales 77%
29 Jul, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel
Satellite TV operator generated $1.5 million in weekly Q4 digital/disc sales
British satellite TV operator Sky July 29 said revenue from Sky Store’s “Buy & Keep” electronic sellthrough platform increased 77% in the 2015 fiscal year ended June 30.
“Buy & Keep” is noteworthy from other EST platforms in that a DVD backup of a movie purchase is delivered to consumers in the mail.
Sky said Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s Fifty Shades of Grey has been the top-selling digital release in the United Kingdom since its June 22 retail release. The company said EST sales in the U.K. totaled $1.5 million weekly in the fourth quarter.
Sky said transactional revenue for the year (which includes Sky Store) across all territories totaled $239 million, up from $134 million in the previous-year period.
“We see the potential to roll Sky Store out across the rest of our territories over time,” CEO Jeremy Darroch said in a statement. “It’s clear that the steps we have taken to broaden out our business are paying off.”
Indeed, Now TV, a broadband-only subscription streaming service delivered via Roku-manufactured devices, upped by 300% sales of sports passes enabling users limited access to Premiere League soccer and other events. Now TV remains one of the few SVOD service offering live sports.
Sky, which includes Ireland, Sky Deutschland (Austria) and Sky Italia, ended the year with 21 million subscribers, up 973,000 from the previous-year period.