Sky customers are now watching more on demand content than ever before, according to new statistics we’ve revealed today.

The figures, released as part of our third-quarter results this morning, reveal that the average number of weekly downloads reached 4.5 million in the first three months of the year - an increase of 460% on the same time last year.

We’ve also revealed today that during the first three months of 2013, an average of 45,000 customers connected their Sky box to broadband each week.  In total, more than 2.3 million Sky customers have now connected their Sky boxes to the internet, up from 600,000 a year ago.

Customers who connect their boxes to their home broadband are now able to enjoy the UK’s biggest catch-up TV service, featuring content from all terrestrial networks as well as Sky’s own channels such as Sky 1 and Sky Atlantic and great shows from Nat Geo, History and Crime & Investigation Network.  There’s also an extensive library of on demand content, including exclusive TV box sets, more than 700 subscription movies from Sky Movies, and more than 1000 movies to rent through Sky Store.

As well as downloading content to their connected Sky+HD set-top box, Sky customers can enjoy on demand content from Sky’s Showcase service, where on demand content is stored on the Sky+ box, and on Sky’s multiplatform TV service, Sky Go.

Other highlights from our quarterly results which shed light on the success of our on demand TV services include:

• A record-breaking level of on demand viewing on Sky Movies, with more than 200 million on demand views over the last 12 months
• A new weekly record of 5.8 million downloads, driven by the launch of Sky Movies Disney, with Sky Movies accounting for nearly a third of all downloaded content during Easter week
• 1.4 million on demand views of episodes from the first two seasons of Game of Thrones across Sky’s on demand services in the first week of April following the launch of the third season
• A 37% year-on-year increase in the number of movie rentals on Sky.  The best performing title in the quarter was Skyfall, with more than 400,000 Sky customers renting the film so far 

We’re delighted with the way in which our customers are embracing our range of connected TV services, and the value they find in them. And to further build on the popularity of on demand, we’ve also confirmed today that connected customers can now enjoy on demand previews of the first episodes of must-see shows including Hannibal, Mad Dogs, Trollied and The Borgias. The first episode of each series will be available to download on demand a week before they launch on Sky’s entertainment channels, with the premiere of the much-anticipated US drama Hannibal available right now to download ahead of its debut on Sky Living.

For more details and stats from our third-quarter results, please click here.