PAY TV group BSkyB has hit its target of seven million direct-to-home satellite subscribers three months earlier than expected.

The group hoped to pass the milestone by the end of the year, but announced yesterday that there were already 7,015,000 digital satellite subscribers on its books.

The announcement comes seven years after the company launched its digital service. Since then, it has moved its analogue subscriber base to digital.

Hit shows including The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek helped attract customers to pay for certain television channels during the past seven years.

Tony Ball, outgoing chief executive, said: "When we set the seven million target over three years ago it was way ahead of market expectations.

"Reaching the milestone three months early is a fantastic achievement for the company and I congratulate the excellent team that has made it possible."

The group, based in Isleworth, Middlesex, is now planning to have eight million direct-to-home customers by the end of 2005, by which date it hopes to have driven up its average revenue per user (ARPU) - a key industry measure - to £400 a year.

According to BSkyB's annual results, published in August, its annualised ARPU figure stood at £366 at the end of its last financial year on June 30.

The company announced just over a week ago that Mr Ball said he was planning to step down when his contract runs out at the end of May.

Speculation about his departure had been rife, with reports linking BSkyB chairman Rupert Murdoch's 31-year-old son, James, to the top job. He is currently in charge of Star TV in Asia.