2012 has been another fantastic year for Sky 1 thanks to everyone across the business. We've managed to make more home-grown comedies and dramas across the channel because of the stirling work thousands of Sky people have made by working more imaginatively and cleverly, saving money off screen to get more on screen.

Customers love what we do and Broadcast magazine named Sky 1 as ‘Channel of the Year’ ahead of the terrestrial channels, which showed the industry is taking notice too. And if you watched the British Comedy Awards you'll have seen Sky 1 up for a number of awards.

Cut to last week though and a less funny Broadcast article ran entitled ‘Sky 1’s Ratings Take A Tumble.’ So I thought it worth explaining what is actually going on.

Regrettably the article missed a fundamental point - Sky's success is less about ratings and more about subscriber numbers.

In a way we’re a bit like Broadcast magazine.  Our emphasis is on getting more people to subscribe, getting them to really value what we do, and encouraging them to stay with us for longer.  As Broadcast would no doubt agree, subscription is about building relationships over time, rather than just fighting it out on the newsstand week to week.

If it were just ratings we would be doing fine. This year we’ve seen a record number of British shows on Sky 1, from superb dramas such as Treasure Island and Mad Dogs, warm and witty comedies such as Stella and Spy, and favourites such as Got to Dance and A League of Their Own.  At the same time we continue to offer the best of the US, with the likes of Arrow, Modern Family, Spartacus and Hawaii Five-0. 

Our approach of ‘fewer, bigger, better’ - having fewer shows on the network but having those shows being bigger budget ones with much bigger names on and off screen - is working well. In 2012, we’ve seen the number of shows attracting audiences in excess of 1 million increase by 13% year-on-year. And our 10 biggest shows of 2012 have attracted bigger audiences than their equivalents in 2011. 

But, more importantly, ratings don’t tell the full story for a subscription business like Sky. For us, the real focus is on customer appreciation and perceptions of quality and value.  After all, it’s our responsibility to give customers a channel that really matters to them, and which they believe is worth paying for.

So, while awards and critical acclaim are nice to receive, what thrills us most is that customers tell us that Sky 1 has never mattered more to them.

Customer satisfaction scores are at record levels and Sky 1 is being cited by new subscribers as one of their main reasons for choosing Sky.

Looking ahead, we’re excited for 2013. January alone will include some truly distinctive new programmes on Sky 1 including new entertainment show John Bishop’s Only Joking and brand new drama Revolution alongside returning favourites such as Stella and Got To Dance. And watch out for some exciting news about more original drama across our Sky entertainment channels. I can’t wait to get started.