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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hlpinout who wrote (89564)	2/7/2001 7:45:47 PM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Markets prepare for BSkyB results Story Filed: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 7:08 PM EST Feb. 07, 2001 (CableFAX's Pay-TV Today, Vol. 2, No. 25 via COMTEX) -- Sources close to the company expect the UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB to report more than 5 million DTH subscribers at its half-year results announcements today (February 7). The number is expected to include some 4.7 million subscribers to Sky Digital. Following a first quarter loss of GBP123.6 million (E194.43) on sales of GBP520 million, analysts also expect Sky to report a pre-tax loss, for the first half-year, of between GBP93 million and GBP113 million. As well as reporting on the financials, Sky is expected to talk about the company's plans for its next generation set-top boxes, including the personal video recorder (PVR) box being readied by Pace Micro Technology. Some industry observers also expect an announcement from Sky on its reported deal with Compaq on plans for a Sky-branded PC, likely to be marketed later this year. Just as importantly, observers will be looking out for such indications of BSkyB's performance as churn rate, which some expect to fall from almost 10 per cent to between 6.5 and 7 per cent. This will compare favourably with that of ONdigital, which is believed to be running at up to 20 per cent. Observers will also be interested to see if the recent increase in the cost of receiving Sky Digital will have a bearing on the take-up of the service. (CF, CD) * Premiere World Austria claims to be satisfied with the results of its Christmas promotional campaign, which should have ended on January 13, but was extended to the end of last month. According to the Vienna office of pay-TV company, strong demand from customers even led to shortages of set-top boxes in some shops. Premier World currently has around 2.35 million subscribers in Germany and Austria, with 1.6 million taking the digital offer and the remainder still subscribing to the stand-alone analogue channel scheduled to be closed down this autumn. Thomas Mischek, the company's managing director, believes the promotional offer has moved Austria a big step closer to the digital TV era. Copyright © 2001, Phillips Publishing International, all rights reserved.