MUMBAI: British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has hit a viewer milestone. On Friday, the UK/ Ireland satellite TV platform controlled by News Corp claimed that it had added 170,000 net subscribers in its last fiscal quarter, taking its total to more than 7 million.

 
With the subscriber base crossing 7 million, the revenues for the company increased by 17 percent to 850 million pounds. According to the media reports, the company claimed that DTH revenues increased by 17 percent to 628 million pounds, which was attributed to a 12 percent increase in the number of satellite TV subscribers.

According to the report, the satellite broadcaster has achieved its goal of signing up seven million subscribers, three months ahead of schedule. The company was originally hoping to attract seven million subscribers latest by the end of this year.

During the tenure of CEO Tony Ball, the firm began to attract a mass audience with the set-top boxes and minidishes to decode digital television signals. The company's subscriber base has grown strongly since then. Also what boosted the subscriber base was its exclusive deal to screen football matches between the elite English Premier League clubs.

With CEO James Murdoch taking over the reins from Tony Ball, the company is now aiming to increase its total subscriber base to eight million by the end of 2005. It also wants to boost average revenue per user to ?400, up from ?366 in June 2004, reports say.