Plan comes together for TV subs boost in Shaw Q3: Mehr

Shaw Communications Inc.’s increased TV and Internet subscription numbers in the year’s third fiscal quarter reflect a team effort to increase the company’s wireline business, president and chief operating officer Jay Mehr said Wednesday. “What I hope you’re seeing in the quarter is a plan coming to life, and it’s step by step,” Mehr said, during a conference call with analysts. “We talked about service agreements, we talked about the broadband advantage available to every customer in the market through WideOpen Internet 150. We’ve talked about BlueSky , not only in terms of where BlueSky is today, but the roadmap that it makes possible for consumers as we continue to evolve that experience.” In the three months ended May 31, Shaw reported its first increase in residential TV subscribers since the fourth quarter of the 2010 fiscal year, with the third quarter of 2017 ending with 2.44 million TV subscribers. This included an additional 12,921 cable subscribers and 6,531 satellite subscribers, for a total of 19,452 TV subscribers added in the quarter, compared to a net loss of 23,635 TV subscribers the same quarter a year prior. Internet subscribers came in at 1.84 million, with 20,892 added in the third quarter, compared to a loss of 8,760 subscribers the year prior. Mehr described its IPTV service BlueSky TV as the “tide that’s raising all boats,” and said that it’s “a video product without peers in the marketplace.” Launched in January in Calgary, the service rolled out to the rest of Shaw’s cable footprint in April. “We had a great quarter because we had a launch and we’d love to continue to perform at levels like this,” Mehr said, but cautioned that “it’s hard out there — there’s competitive responses, things are happening back and forth — but there’s no question we’ve got an entire team that’s focused on growing the wireline and wireless business. And on the wireline business, that includes video growth.” On the wireless side, Shaw’s Freedom Mobile gained 20,085 postpaid subscribers and lost 111 prepaid prepaid subscribers, for a third-quarter total of 1.1 million subscribers, compared to 1.04 million wireless subscribers the same period a year earlier, when the company added about 22,000 wireless customers. The company reported an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $37.05, an increase from the $36.30 reported in the third quarter of 2016. Wednesday’s quarterly results release followed an announcement earlier in the month that Shaw had purchased 700MHz and 2500MHz spectrum from Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. Mehr said goal is for the company to be as equally methodical with its wireless business as it was on the wireline side and that Shaw’s projected $350-million spend is to flesh out its existing network with the newly acquired spectrum. “Over time we’ve got other markets built into the plan that we’re going to be focused on, but the intensity here is to build a much more compelling product in markets that we currently serve,” Mehr said. “And we think we’ve got room to grow in the markets we currently serve.” He added: “I think it’s clear with our recent investments in spectrum, in the way we’re thinking about the wireless business, that we’re thinking about it with ambition and aspiration. We think Canadians deserve a choice, and that choice is not provided by the big three. I think you’ll see us behave that way as we move forward.” Overall, Shaw reported third-quarter revenues of $1.31 billion, a 2.8-per-cent increase over the $1.27 million earned in the same period a year earlier. The company also said it posted a $133 million profit, an 81.1-per-cent decrease from the $704-million profit reported in the third quarter of 2016. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Plan comes together for TV subs boost in Shaw Q3: Mehr

News | June 28, 2017

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Plan comes together for TV subs boost in Shaw Q3: Mehr

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