Premiere AG (PRE.XE) will use incentives to minimize churn after introducing a new and partly more expensive price and package structure, the German pay-TV company's Chief Executive Officer Mark Williams told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview Wednesday.

Premiere AG, which is partly owned by News Corp., is changing its name to Sky on July 4. That is also when it will put a new pricing and package structure into effect which will see prices rise sharply for subscribers who only want to watch live Bundesliga soccer matches.

Under its subscription revamp, live Bundesliga soccer can only be ordered in combination with a "Sky Welt" package for EUR32.90 per month, Premiere said. Currently, subscribers wanting just Bundesliga soccer can buy the package on a stand-alone basis for EUR19.99 per month.

Still, Williams said he expects the new price and package structure will be well received among its customers.

Existing customers won't be affected immediately by the new pricing regime. But they can't extend their contracts on previous terms.

All contracts for Premiere's current 2.37 million direct subscribers will expire at the end of 2010 at the latest.

Premiere warned earlier this year in its stock market prospectus for the latest capital increase that the new pricing and package structure could lead to a higher churn.

"We do everything to minimize the number of subscribers not prolonging their contracts and plan incentives to migrate our subscribers to the new price and package structure," Williams said in the interview. The incentives could range from bonus offers until high definition, or HD, receivers, although no final decision has been made yet, he said.

Premiere will broadcast some channels including Bundesliga soccer in HD quality.

Premiere's, respectively Sky's, new price and package scheme "has some similarities to Sky Italia's and BSkyB's ones but isn't identical", Williams said.

News Corp. (NWS), which owns Dow Jones, publisher of this newswire, has a 30.5% stake in Premiere, fully owns Sky Italia and has a roughly 39% stake in British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY.LN), or BSkyB. News Corp. has a track record of using soccer to turn around unprofitable pay-TV companies in Europe, notably Sky Italia and the U.K.'s BSkyB.

Company Web site: http://www.info.premiere.de

-By Archibald Preuschat, Dow Jones Newswires, +49 211 138 7218, archibald.preuschat@dowjones.com
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