BSkyB has increased its Irish customer base by 9,000 subscribers in the three months to September 30th.
The company, which trades in the Republic as Sky Ireland, now has 332,000 subscribers to its Sky Digital service. Almost a quarter of all households in the Republic (24.2 per cent) now subscribe to the service.
Mr Mark Deering, director of Sky Ireland, said that with almost one in four households subscribing, Sky was firmly committed to continuing its investment in Ireland. "We look forward to further growing our business here in the future," he said.
BSkyB managed to add 62,000 subscribers in the same period, bringing the total to more than 7.4 million. This figure includes Irish and British subscribers.
The chief executive of BSkyB, the parent company of the Irish operation, Mr James Murdoch, said he hoped to add at least 100,000 British and Irish subscribers during the crucial pre-Christmas period.
He insisted the company remained on track to reach eight million British and Irish customers by the end of next year. He said the company also wanted to get £400 sterling (€572) in average revenue per user.
The overall BSkyB results surpassed City expectations, as most analysts had predicted a rise of fewer than 50,000 new customers. Analysts welcomed the figures and said they were reassured by the fact that a major marketing campaign seemed to be having an impact.
"Overall, we are pleased that quarter one additions were not as weak as feared and, more importantly, that the early indications from the marketing push gives BSkyB the confidence to reiterate its subscriber growth targets," said stockbroker Numis in a broker's note.
Many analysts forecast BSkyB would add 131,000 customers in the current quarter, while Bear Stearns predicted it would add at least 100,000.
The company has boosted its advertising budget by 50 per cent, taking the total spent on marketing to £75 million sterling.
"We think it's strong, it's talking about all the things we want to talk about right now but it's early days. It started a month ago and as is always the case with brand-focused marketing, it takes a little while," said Mr Murdoch.
He also said he was pleased with figures showing 77,000 new Sky Plus subscribers in the quarter, taking the total to 474,000, while the number of customers taking a second set-top box was up 64,000.
BSkyB hopes to reach 10 million subscribers by the end of the decade. Mr Murdoch again insisted that pay TV in the UK would follow the US and eventually reach 80 per cent penetration.
Meanwhile, BSkyB shareholders approved a share buyback programme yesterday, despite concern from some investors that it could increase media conglomerate News Corporation's stake in the company from 35.3 per cent to 37.2 per cent.
Shareholder groups including the Association of British Insurers said that allowing News Corporation to boost its stake without paying a premium might violate best corporate governance practice.
