TalkTalk has more than a quarter of a million TV customers using its YouView box after outstripping BT, Sky and Freesat’s growth rate in early 2013.
The value broadband company added 150,000 TalkTalk TV subscribers in the first three months of 2013, with around 12,000 new homes installing TV every week, boosted by a self-install option.
TalkTalk is predicted to have more than 300,000 TV homes by the end of May, with almost three quarters coming from Freeview or Freesat.
Read more about Recombu Digital’s UK TV Customer League TableDido Harding, TalkTalk’s chief executive, said: “We have the UK’s fastest growing TV service and our customers clearly appreciate it is great value for money.
“We believe, over time, that three-quarters of our customer base will take our TV offer. It is a brilliant way to start the pay-TV journey, particularly for families seeking great value mass-market entertainment.”
One in five TalkTalk TV customers take a paid-for boost on a monthly rolling subscription, with family and kids entertainment packages most popular.
On-demand video has also proved a hit, with TalkTalk claiming notable success for blockbuster movies such as The Hobbit and Life of Pi.
Users watch around 19.5 hours of free-to-air and catch-up TV a week, with an additional 2.5 hours of paid-for TV and films.
TalkTalk’s TV success hasn’t come cheap, with £23m spent on the trials, technology project team, engineer recruitment and training, marketing and TV and film content.
Another £39m has been spent on acquiring TV customers – mostly the cost of the Huawei YouView box given free to anyone on the TalkTalk Plus TV broadband, phone and TV package.
TalkTalk’s latest financial results also saw it return broadband subscribers to their best level for a year, with strong growth in unbundled ADSL and fibre broadband take-up.
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