News Corp. subsidiary NDS Group announced first quarter revenue was up 25 percent from last year, to $204.9 million, and net income reached $46.2 million, up from $35 million a year ago.

NDS reported it had shipped 7.4 million active digital TV smart cards – a net add of 3.2 million – for a running total of 78.6 million activated cards; had a net add of 8.1 million middleware clients for a cumulative total of 69.9 million deployed; and a net add of 1.5 million DVR clients for a cumulative total of 8.8 million deployed.

The company also revealed the identities of two new customers: Bharti Airtel and Tianjin Broadcast & TV Network Co. Bharti Airtel, India’s largest cellular operator, is using NDS’ VideoGuard conditional access, MediaHighway middleware, and a customized electronic program guide (EPG) for its new direct-to-home satellite service. China’s Tianjin Broadcast & TV Network Co. Ltd., meanwhile, is working with NDS to develop a digital cable platform.

NDS chairman and CEO Abe Peled said, “Our business has seen continued strong performance across the board as our deliveries of new technology grew strongly and our deployments in developing markets continued to gather momentum. NDS continues to expand its R&D and delivery organizations across the world to meet customer demand for new projects, many of which will yield revenue only from the next financial year onwards. NDS is investing in R&D as well as selected acquisitions to ensure that it will be in a position to offer the leading solutions to its customers in the rapidly changing media delivery landscape.”