Oct 12, 2017

‘Game of Thrones’ makes new viewers switch on to Sky

Game of Thrones has boosted Sky's revenues and earnings as the popularity of the television series - the most watched ever on the broadcaster's channels - proved pivotal in attracting viewers. Like-for-like revenues at Sky, which is subject to a £11.7bn offer from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, rose 5 per cent to £3.3bn. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 11 per cent to £582m. The success of Game of Thrones, for which Sky has a deal with HBO to screen ahead of other UK broadcasters, has helped the group tackle the challenge from groups such as Amazon and Netflix. Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: "Game of Thrones has become the most watched series ever on Sky . . . in Italy, X Factor has launched to record audiences and we're pleased with the continued progress of Sky 1 in Germany and Austria." "Five to 10 years ago Sky was the only game in town," Mr Davidson said. Earlier in the week, UK competition watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority, defined the terms of its investigation into Mr Murdoch's bid to take full control of Sky, saying it would focus on the "Impact on media plurality".

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