Englewood, Colo. -- TCI Satellite Entertainment Inc. (TSAT)
said last Wednesday that its first-quarter revenues were up approximately 37 percent over
year-earlier figures.
TSAT reported revenue of $168.5 million for the three
months ended March 31, compared with 1997 first-quarter revenue of $123.3 million. At
$21.1 million, its operating cash flow was up approximately 57 percent over first-quarter
1997 levels.
The company attributed its performance to subscriber
growth, increased revenue per subscriber and improved operating-cash-flow margins.
At the end of the first quarter, TSAT served approximately
914,000 PrimeStar Partners L.P. customers, having added 63,000 new net subscribers during
those three months. Annualized churn for the quarter was 27.1 percent.
On April 1, TSAT contributed its PrimeStar customers into
newly rolled-up PrimeStar Inc. TSAT currently acts as the holding company for PrimeStar,
and it has a 37 percent ownership interest in it. TSAT and PrimeStar plan to merge as the
next step of the roll-up, pending regulatory approval.
In a TSAT 10-Q filing May 15, the company reported that it
had settled a copyright-infringement lawsuit with a payment of $2.8 million in cash to the
plaintiff, Croce Advertising.
