LONDON -- May 18, 2010 -- Pilat Media, the leading global supplier of business management software to the media industry, today announced that Israel's Yes satellite services has launched video-on-demand (VOD) and broadband services using IBMS:OnDemand, an add-on module that supports multiplatform on-demand services within the IBMS broadcast management system. Yes has been Israel's dominant provider of multichannel satellite-based services since 2000 and has broken new ground with the March 2010 launch of VOD services over IP, making it Israel's first provider of IPTV.
The introduction of the new on-demand services gives Yes a clear lead in the Israeli market as the yes MaxTOTAL service is the country's only package combining HD, VOD, and PVR facilities. Yes and Pilat Media worked together closely during the deployment, integrating IBMS with the broadcaster's NDS and Harmonic systems to produce an efficient multiplatform workflow for the nonlinear environment. IBMS controls content re-ingestion in MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 formats. It also inserts extra metadata that enables searches of the VOD content, together with the scheduling and distribution of that content through the nonlinear delivery infrastructure. Yes has also leveraged the IBMS system's multilanguage capacity to streamline efficient handling of complex multiplatform services in English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Russian. As the next stage in its roll-out of on-demand services, Yes will introduce a cellular phone service for mobile viewing and will continue to expand its library of VOD content.
"IBMS handles all of the data for EPG, media management, and contracts in our linear broadcast operation. It requires careful planning to take all this information and bring it into a nonlinear context. Instead of scheduling in days, hours, and channels, you have to think in terms of platforms, cross-platform delivery, and all the extra implications for broadcast rights," said Itzhak Elyakim, vice president of engineering and chief technical officer, Yes satellite services. "The ability to add IBMS:OnDemand functionality to our existing IBMS platform efficiently and cost-effectively has been a key enabling factor in quickly bringing these new market-leading services to our customers."
IBMS supports centralized business management for multiplatform on-demand services through the IBMS:OnDemand module. IBMS:OnDemand lets broadcasters quickly build sophisticated VOD and Internet packages to suit varied platforms and viewing audiences. Rich metadata associations for content make it easy to mix and match titles at multiple hierarchical levels to create exciting VOD and Internet services.
"Yes satellite services has consistently been a leader in deploying advanced, innovative services to create and maintain a market advantage," said Avi Engel, CEO, Pilat Media. "We are pleased that they are one of our first customers to deploy IBMS:OnDemand and look forward to working closely with Yes as it rolls out new services in VOD and Internet delivery, enhancing the already outstanding media experience it offers to the subscriber base."
# # #
About Yes Satellite Services
Yes satellite services was established in 1998 and began broadcasting in July 2000. Yes is Israel's only provider of multichannel television broadcasts via satellite and was the first company to offer digital broadcasts and interactive television services. The company has more than 570,000 subscribers comprising more than 38 percent of Israel's multichannel television market. Yes broadcasts more than 150 video channels, 50 radio and music channels, and 11 HD channels. The company transformed Israel's TV broadcasting sector, which was dominated by a cable monopoly offering an outdated analog product that provided a limited choice of content. With a staff of 2,100 and 280 subcontractors, the company's turnover in 2008 totaled about NIS 1.5 billion. Yes is owned by several of the leading communication companies in Israel: Bezeq, Eurocom, Polar, Gilat Satellite Networks, and Lidan. More information is available at www.yes.co.il.
About Pilat Media
Pilat Media Global plc [AIM: PGB] develops, markets, and supports business management software solutions for content and service providers in the media industry. Designed with the direct involvement of top-tier broadcasters, Pilat Media's systems improve business performance, accelerate time to market, and enable diversification and growth of content programming, advertising sales, traffic, and media operations for multiplatform linear and on-demand services. More than 50 blue-chip media companies around the world use Pilat Media solutions, including FOX, AT&T, CTV, Virgin Media, Discovery, SABC, Chellomedia, the BBC, Media General, Sky Italia, ESPN Star Sports, Network Ten, TVNZ, Southern Cross, and Foxtel. These and other deployments represent the management of billions of dollars in advertising revenue and programming that reaches hundreds of millions of viewers. More information is available at www.pilatmedia.com.
ENDS
