Bezeq’s yes has signed an agreement with Walt Disney Company ahead of the launch of Disney+ in Israel.
Under its terms, yes, Pelephone Communications and Bezeq International will be allowed to distribute the streaming service in the country for a period of three years. According to Bezeq, Disney will be entitled to payment based on the number of subscribers purchasing the Disney+ service, and which shall not be less than the amounts set out in the agreement. Yes will also have a number of marketing advantages, some of which are subject to approval from the Israeli Anti-Trust Authority.
Yes was previously reported to have signed a cooperation agreement with Disney+ in February, paying NIS150 million over three years. Hot was also in talks with Disney+ before yes secured the preferential agreement.
Broadband TV News notes that the final agreement was announced shortly before Bezeq announced first quarter results. These show that yes ended March with a total of 564,000 subscribers, up from 559,000 a year earlier. Of these, the number of using IP (yes+ and STINGTV services broadcast via the internet, and including those who also used satellite at the same time) was 253,000 (147,000), or approximately 47% of all yes subscribers.
ARPU for yes was NIS186 (€52), compared to NIS187 a year earlier, and the churn rate down from 4.3% to 3.75 over the same period.
Yes revenues were NIS316 million, an increase of NIS1 million, with adjusted EBITDA NIS60 million (+13.2%) and net profit NIS10 million, compared to break even in the corresponding quarter in 2021.
Bezeq Group had revenues of NIS2,255 million (+1.5%) and adjusted EBITDA of NIS958 million (+4.4%) in Q1. Its adjusted net profit was NIS322 million (+7.7%)
