British pay-TV firm BSkyB beat forecasts with 171,000 net new customers in the second quarter and said it planned to create around 1,000 jobs after starting the year in a strong position.
BSkyB posted a 26 per cent rise in first-half adjusted operating profit to £388 million ($547.5 million) and a 6 per cent rise in revenues to £2.6 billion.
Churn, or the percentage of customers who dropped their subscription, was better than forecasts at 9.9 per cent, as new services such as broadband increased customer loyalty.
"In a very challenging economic environment, we have delivered a great set of results," Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said in a statement.
"Good cost control has allowed us to turn our operational performance into very strong financial results." BSkyB said it would create around 1,000 jobs to support the growth.
Shares in BSkyB enjoyed a good run in the past week, up 6.5 per cent, but analysts had feared the company would soon suffer from the economic downturn, with fewer gross customer additions and an increase in the numbers leaving the service.
However they generally expect the company to hold up well during a recession, with customers looking to stay in to enjoy entertainment at home.
It has also been boosted by existing customers taking more products, such as high definition television, and it is over the peak of its broadband investment, boosting profits.
It added 163,000 new broadband customers and 515,000 customers to the Sky+ digital recorder service.
Analysts had been expecting net customer additions of 134,000, adjusted operating profit of £361 million and revenues of £2.58 billion. They had expected churn of 10.4 per cent.
Reuters