US retail giant Amazon today announced that its Amazon Prime Video service would be available in 200 countries, including Israel. The service covers Amazon's original series, including the popular Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and Man in the High Castle, as well as purchased series and movies of the major studio chains in the US.
The service will cost $3 a month in the first six months, and will be available on computers, smartphone apps for both Apple and Android devices, and Samsung and LG smart television apps. Meanwhile, the content is being offered as a service to the Israeli viewer without Hebrew subtitles. Spokespeople for the service in Israel, however, said that such subtitles would be added later.
The better-known US VOD service offered by Netflix has operated in Israel since early 2016, and most of its content has Hebrew subtitles. Netflix's service includes a number of payment alternatives, all of which are more expensive than Amazon's. The main alternative costs $10 a month.
The commencement of Amazon's business in Israel is not a milestone in itself, but it is part of a growing trend likely to have a substantial effect on the industry in the coming years, together with already visible technological changes and based on a new generation of consumers. Services like that of Netflix and Amazon offer relatively focused payment for popular and well-loved content, and do not require contact with technicians and customer service personnel. Customers willing to settle for the use of other broadcast channels and linear channels as a supplement, for example through Idan Plus, can substantially reduce their monthly spending on television content.
This is not the case at present, and both DBS Satellite Services (1998) Ltd. (YES) and Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT.B1) regard Netflix and Amazon as supplementary content that does not pose a threat to their business model. Meanwhile, Cellcom TV, which is already operating and offering a more diverse (and more expensive) content package than the US services, is finding it difficult to challenge the Yes-Hot duopoly. Efforts are underway to pass legislation in the framework of the Economic Arrangements Law that will bolster competition in this sector.
Due to enter the sector in 2017 in competition with the three existing platforms is Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), which today announced that its television interface would be based on the Android TV platform. Partner CEO Itzik Benvenisiti said that in recent months, his company had built "a unique user experience interface that has been adapted to the requirements and habits of the Israeli user. Android TV is the most innovative infrastructure; it is able to adapt itself in real time to changing viewing habits."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2016
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