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Germany's Premiere To Relaunch As Sky Deutschland

The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — German pay TV operator Premiere AG, in which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is a key shareholder, said Thursday that it plans to relaunch in July under the new name Sky Deutschland.

Premiere is best known for holding the rights to the Bundesliga, Germany's football league. News Corp. holds 30.5 percent of the company.

The company said the Sky brand has been licensed from British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, and the switch to Sky Deutschland is subject to approval at Premiere's annual general meeting.

The operator said it will write off the value of the Premiere trademark in this year's second quarter, a move that is expected to shave euro256.1 million ($350 million) off net profit.

The announcement will have no impact on existing customers' contracts, the company said, adding that it plans to give details of new packages and pricing in June.

"We intend to make changes that will fundamentally improve the experience for customers," Chief Executive Mark Williams said in a statement. "Becoming Sky underscores our commitment to offer a world-class entertainment service in Germany and Austria."

Also Thursday, Premiere said its net loss widened to euro80 million in the first quarter from euro28.1 million a year earlier.

Revenues edged up to euro232.7 million from euro231 million, but operating expenses increased to euro262.5 million from euro228.1 million.

Premiere said it had just over 2.37 million direct subscribers at the end of March, 28,000 fewer than at the end of last year.

The results "are in line with our expectations," Williams said. "We expect subscriber growth to commence only in the second half of this year following our comprehensive sales, marketing and customer service initiatives."

Premiere said it was sticking to its outlook for 2009 and beyond, which includes a "significant" pretax loss this year and targets a net profit starting in 2011.

Premiere shares closed up nearly 6 percent at euro1.78 in Frankfurt.