MTG shuffles packages and raises basic-tier prices

摘要

Modern Times Group (MTG) said this week that a reorganisation of the channel packages on its Viasat pay-TV platform was designed more to improve customer satisfaction than to increase revenues. The company is putting up the price of its entry-level tier by almost a third and, at the same time, replacing its three-tier subscription system with more than 20 possible combinations of thematic and premium packages. Analysts said that the changes would boost average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) but warned that some customers would balk at the price rise and churn out of the service. Andrew Barron, MTG chief operating officer, told New Media Markets: "Our research suggests that customers increasingly believe flexibility is important." Referring to the launch of personal video recorders and multi-room subscriptions, Barron said that the company had been adding "additional platform functionality for quite some time now, and people like it. But the content side got overtaken by the range of choice available on the platform side."