Sky is to shut down operations in Argentina on July 10 after investing 120 million US dollars there in the last 18 months. A press release announced the decision Monday, June 10. The DTH operator?s 52,000-plus subscribers haven?t been told whether their set-tops will be bought back by Sky, which could use them in Brazil or Mexico. An alternative would be reimbursement in cash. DirecTV dominates Argentina?s DTH market with some 310,000 subscribers. Sky blames its decision to quit on the difficulty of long-range planning due to the severe economic crisis in Argentina, noting that its subscriber base there is small enough to discontinue service without major repercussions. Market watchers say there?s no evidence of a knock-on effect on Sky?s operations elsewhere in Latin America, especially Brazil and Mexico, the top two markets in the region. The subscriber base expanded in both countries during the first quarter. In Brazil it grew from 708,000 in December to 710,000 in March, according to News Corp. In Mexico, the number of subscribers rose from 692,000 to 701,000 in the same period. The Argentine operation is controlled by Sky Multi Country, in which Globo owns 10%. The other shareholders are News Corp, Televisa, and Liberty Media.
DTH
