Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan has decided that the narrow television package offered by Israel's cable and satellite broadcasters will cost NIS 120 per month. Erdan worked out the deal with Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT.B1) and DBS Satellite Services (1998) Ltd. (YES), which will begin offering the new packages in a few weeks. At the same time, Erdan called off the hearing for a basic package being drawn up by the Council for Cable and Satellite Broadcasting.
Yes will offer three narrow packages: children's channels, sports, and enrichment channels. Hot will offer two packages: children's channels and sports. Subscribers of both carriers can add channels to the packages at an extra cost. Yes will also allow subscribers to buy VOD services, but Hot has not made such a promise.
Yes's narrow package will include the basic channels: Israel Broadcasting Authorities channel 1, 23, and 33; commercial channels 2 and 10; music channel 24; Russian language channel 9; the shopping channel; the community channel; the Knesset channel 99; the Arabic language channel; yes Base. It will add to the children's package MGM, CNN, National Geographic, CBS, on top of the children's channels Hop, Zoom, Jim Jam, and Disney Junior. It will add to the sports package BBC World, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS Reality, One, as well as sports channels Fox Sports, Eurosport, Sport 5, Extreme, and Ego. The enrichment package will include National Geographic, the History channel, CBS Reality, Yes Documentary, the Biography channel, the Good Life, BBC Entertainment, the Fashion channel, and CNN.
In addition to the basic channels and radio channels, Hot is offering its basic movies package and MGM, a new television series channel geared to the young, and BBC Entertainment, the Good Life channel, Channel 8, Channel 24, E! News, Channel 9, the Arabic channel, the community channel, and the shopping channel. The children's narrow package will include Looly, Nickelodeon Junior, Logi, MTV, and the young oriented music Channel 89. The sports package will include Sport 5, Trace, One, and Extreme Sport, instead of four other channels.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 19, 2014
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