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Subscriber numbers: By operator

Subscriber numbers, total and by operator, 1995–2009

Next update September 2010

As at June 2009, the three main subscription TV operators, Foxtel, Optus TV and Austar, had approximately 2.4 million subscribers, a penetration of about 28 per cent of all Australian households.¹ According to OzTAM data published by the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association, 6.7 million Australians (33 per cent) had access to subscription TV as at 31 March 2009.²

Graph: Subscription TV subscriber numbers by operator, 1995-2009. Following table provides the data.

	Foxtel³	Optus Television³	Austar	Australis Media⁴	East Coast Television⁵	Total
Dec. 1995	2,000	1,000	n.a.	62,000	na.	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	241,000	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
June 2008	1,540,000		695,073	–	–	2,235,073
June 2009	1,630,000		728,719	–	–	2,358,719

Source: Compiled by Screen Australia from data published on the Austar website since 2004, Foxtel website since 2008, PBL website in 2006 and 2007 in the PBL annual report, and News Corp website in 2004 and 2005 in the News Corp quarterly earnings releases. Before 2004, from Digital Broadcast Australia (incorporating Australian Pay TV News).

Notes:
n.a. Not available.
1. Screen Australia estimate based on population data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0).
2. See the ASTRA website
3. At the end of 2002, following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (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. In June 2008, Foxtel reported a combined figure for direct Foxtel sales and wholesale Optus Television sales.
4. Australis Media went into liquidation in May 1998.
5. Austar owners (then United International Holdings) bought out East Coast Television in August 1998.