Just after reporting that it plans to switch to Internet broadcasting, Israeli satellite TV broadcaster Yes is planning extensive cooperation with Apple TV. Sources inform "Globes" that the company will launch a new Apple-based converter in the coming months in which Yes TV will be installed as the first option.
Yes will continue its original content, but subscribers will also receive access to content from Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. As far as is known, the agreement with Apple has been signed and the converter is in development. The company, however, declined to respond to the report.
Sources also inform "Globes" that Yes is working on another converter - a hybrid that will work with Android and will accommodate Internet broadcasting in addition to satellite reception.
Information obtained by "Globes" indicates that Yes's technicians are conducting visits to thousands of the company's subscribers and replacing converters for a considerable proportion of them, so that it will be possible to accelerate sales of the new converter. In this way, Yes can gradually transfer tens of thousands of customers a year to Internet broadcasting without having to send a special technician to each customer.
The new converter will make it possible to record
Sources also inform "Globes" that Yes is also planning to add recording capability to the new converter. It is not yet clear how this will work, but it will be based on the company's solution with its second product - STINGTV, which includes recording capability. At the same time, it is still unknown whether the new product will include other features, such as catch up, which has become very popular in Israel; it enables viewers to go back and see the content broadcast on for an entire week without recording. In any case, the new converter will have recording capability.
The company plans to market the device as a premium product, and therefore believes that it can charge a slightly higher price. Estimates are that the new product will be priced at $130, while current prices in the market are in the $80-100 range.
Close connection with the fiber-optic project
Late last week, the Bezeq group reported that Yes's board of directors had decided to abandon satellite broadcasting in favor of Internet broadcasting, which fits in with Bezeq's fiber-optic project.
As previously reported in "Globes," Bezeq's network, as currently built, can partially support the switch, and is therefore closely associated with the fiber-optic project. This project is not yet underway because of obstacles placed by the Ministry of Communications. Bezeq tried to reach understandings with the Ministry of Communications on terms that would make the project economically worthwhile, because the project involves a very large investment for the company, but no such understandings were reached on the matter.
Yes declined to comment on the report.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 17, 2019
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