Welho grows pay-TV activities

Finnish cable operator Welho, part of conglomerate Sanoma’s entertainment arm, grew its pay-TV customer base to 76,000 at the end of last year, up slightly from 68,000 a year previously. Overall, Welho had 326,000 cable customers, up 3,000 year-on-year. Cable broadband customers numbered 116,000, up from 105,000. Last year saw the launch of Welho Mix, a new pay-TV offering that allowed customers the ability to tailor their own packages. Welho also became one of the first companies worldwide to test 3DTV.

Sanoma Entertainment’s net sales for 2009 amounted to €157.1m, on a par with the previous year. Advertising sales accounted for 49% of net sales, down slightly from 52% in 2008. The company’s TV channels accounted for 32.6% of the overall Finnish TV ad market, up from 29.5% in 2008. This month saw the launch of pay-TV channel Sport Pro, a joint venture between Nelonen Media and Viasat.