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Subscriber numbers: By operator

Subscriber numbers, total and by operator, 1995–2007

As at June 2007, the three main subscription TV operators, Foxtel, Optus TV and Austar, had 2.1 million subscribers. This is a penetration of approximately 26 per cent of all Australian households.

Graph: Subscription TV subscriber numbers by operator. Following table provides the data.

Next update September 2008

	Foxtel	Optus Television	Austar	Australis Media¹	East Coast Television²	Total
Dec. 1995	2,000	1,000	0	62,000	0	65,000
Dec. 1996	130,000	150,000	110,000	100,000	10,000	500,000
Dec. 1997	270,000	175,000	200,000	90,000	12,000	747,000
Dec. 1998	410,000	200,000	290,000	-	-	900,000
Dec. 1999	570,000	220,000	370,000	-	-	1,160,000
Dec. 2000	703,000	220,000	421,000	-	-	1,344,000
June 2001	725,000	250,000	426,000	-	-	1,401,000
Dec. 2001	775,000	250,000	432,000	-	-	1,457,000
June 2002	798,000	250,000	417,000	-	-	1,465,000
Dec. 2002	809,000	241,000³	402,739	-	-	1,452,739
June 2003	836,000	222,000	407,270	-	-	1,465,270
Dec. 2003	862,394	210,606	427,296	-	-	1,500,296
June 2004	904,000	201,460	459,819	-	-	1,565,279
Dec. 2004	985,000	179,000	493,252	-	-	1,657,252
June 2005	1,023,000	157,000	514,450	-	-	1,694,450
June 2006	1,129,000	142,000	570,878	-	-	1,841,878
June 2007	1,292,000	151,000	639,128	-	-	2,082,128

Sources: Austar website (www.austarunited.com.au), PBL Annual Report (www.pbl.com.au) and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Previously News Corp quarterly earnings report and Digital Broadcast Australia (incorporating Australian Pay TV News).

Notes:
1. Australis Media went into liquidation in May 1998.
2. Austar owners (then United International Holdings) bought out East Coast Television in August 1998.
3. At the end of 2002, following the ACCC decision regarding content sharing, Optus became a repackager of Foxtel and scaled back its ambitions as a subscription TV operator. Instead, it uses subscription TV as an element in its telephony bundling strategy.