Review threatens Bates’ £32m BSkyB business

BSkyB is seeking an agency to handle the £2m advertising business for its video recorder service Sky+. The move has prompted speculation that the company could review the rest of its £32m advertising business handled by Bates UK It is expected

BSkyB is seeking an agency to handle the &£2m advertising business for its video recorder service Sky+. The move has prompted speculation that the company could review the rest of its &£32m advertising business handled by Bates UK

It is expected that up to five agencies, including Bates UK, will be asked to pitch. They will be expected to deliver an above-the-line solution that can be applied through the line and used by BSkyB’s below-the-line agency Finex. The pitch will be overseen by marketing director Charles Ponsonby.

He says: “We will be examining how we are going to market it [Sky+] to new customers, as well as our existing customer base and the communications strategy that will be adopted in terms of message, media used and pricing.”

To date, Sky+ has been a niche premium product for BSkyB, costing &£250 for a set-top box and &£10 a month subscription. It is only available to digital-satellite users and has attracted just 38,000 subscribers. BSkyB, which has so far marketed the product to its Sky Digital customer base through its own media, believes the product could help increase the amount of annual revenue per unit (ARPU) its gets from each of its 6.3 million subscribers, currently &£348. BSkyB has set an ARPU target of &£400 by 2005.

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