Sky subscribers up to 6.85m

Sky is almost certain to reach its 7 million subscriber target by the end of the year, following the publication of last quarter's results today.

A net total of 133,000 subscribers joined the company's digital service in the three months ending June 30, taking the overall total to 6,845,000.

The ARPU figure, which measures the average amount a subscriber will spend on the service in a year, stood at £366, mainly due to an increase in subscription prices in January.

Sky + subscriptions were up to 105,000 - passing the 100,000 target - whilst there were 165,000 takers of an extra digibox.

Barring any exceptional circumstances, today's news means that Sky will top seven million before the end of the calendar year, possibly even as soon as next quarter.