Sky , the satellite television company of Grupo Televisa , seeks to reverse the drop in subscribers it has reported in an environment in which streaming platforms and inflation increasingly challenge the sector.
In the second quarter of the year, the cable company reported a disconnection of 224,800 subscribers, as well as a decrease of 256,456 users in the internet category, which translated into a loss in sales of 7.7%, obtaining 5,140.1 million pesos in comparison with 5,570.1 million in the same period last year.
This adds to a loss of 163,829 subscribers and 8,003 broadband users in the first quarter of the year.
For the company, the disconnections are due to a Covid effect in which users who subscribed during the pandemic now cancel , but also to a low quality that consumers perceived in their services due to problems in the Altán network, as well as the challenges faced by streaming platforms.
Therefore, the subsidiary company of Televisa will undertake a restructuring of this asset through a new strategy that allows it to mitigate the downward trend by strengthening products and better customer service .
“Sky is generally a fantastic asset. Generate free cash flow. It is a company that has great brand recognition in Mexico, and has a huge content offer (…). Of course we have to stabilize it,” said Alfonso de Angoitia, executive co-president of Televisa , in a conference with analysts.
The bet for the World Cup in Qatar
Within Sky’s restructuring strategy is the integration of attractive programming, in which sports will be the backbone to retain users and improve its prepaid and postpaid model, with which consumers contract packages from the company.
Luis Malvido, CEO of Sky, explained that the company has secured the exclusive right to broadcast the Spanish League and Copa del Rey , all UEFA teams, tournaments and also the Bundesliga .
However, the biggest bet comes in November, as Sky will be the only restricted television company that will have full coverage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which will be broadcast in 4K.
The World Cup is a relevant season for restricted television companies in which their subscriber base increases dramatically; however, the arrival of streaming platforms makes it more difficult for cable companies to access this type of sporting event, in which transmission rights are increasingly reduced. Dish is a company that has already been limited, so Sky would have an advantage over other cable companies with the exclusivity of Qatar.
“Currently, 65% of our prepaid customer base recharges each month, and we are very sure that this percentage will increase significantly due to the need for these games,” added the director of the cable company.
In addition, Sky will broadcast the World Cup games through Blue To Go , an application that in the first quarter of 2023 will formally become a streaming platform and a new revenue channel for the company.
A new MVNO on the market
Pay television companies have been characterized in recent years for being service aggregators to retain their users. Some alternatives have been the bundling of services, access to their application and telephone lines just for being a customer.
Dish is a clear example of this latest business model. In 2017, it announced its MVNO FreedomPop, with which it rewards its users with a cellular line with 100 minutes of air time, 100 text messages and 200 Megabytes of internet and social networks.
Sky seeks to replicate this model. For September of this year it plans to launch its own OMV service , which will be hosted on the AT&T infrastructure. The new bet will help you generate up to 5% more income in the next three years .
The company’s new mobile service, explains Luis Malvido, will initially be aimed at Sky users, since, like Dish, it will offer them plans depending on the packages to which they are subscribed, which would translate into an improvement on your income from prepaid and postpaid plans.
“We know that the (mobile) market is very competitive. However, we will be offering a very attractive package initially to our own postpaid customers with cross-sell promotions and we are very confident that it will bring incremental revenue to Sky.”
Digitize customer service
Attention to users becomes a factor to continue with a company. To improve in this segment, Sky designs a mobile application and web page , in addition to implementing a service channel through WhatsApp, with a live bot response.
But digitization will also help them optimize their sales channel. The Sky manager acknowledges that this segment is still completely manual.
“Paper contracts and mandatory documents for client incorporation are photocopied. This harms the customer experience, generates all kinds of operational problems, ”says the company.
According to Malvido, digitizing the sales channels will represent savings. Only this year they have managed to save 257 million dollars and in 2023 they could reduce a little more.
