How does Cisco Videoscape transform TV experiences? The answer is yes.

I’m often asked, “What can Cisco Videoscape do for my organization?” The best answer is to look at what it did for yes, Israel’s biggest satellite TV provider.

Yes launched its over-the-top (OTT) multiscreen video service, yes GO, in Israel last year based on the Cisco Videoscape Video Everywhere Solution, and it made a huge splash. Yes saw an immediate spike in adoption and market share with a growth rate even faster than the company’s most optimistic predictions. This is a big deal in the fiercely competitive Israeli pay-TV market, where subscriber growth is basically a zero-sum game between yes (which has 40% of the market) and its closest cable competitor.

So what did yes do to capture the imagination of this tech-savvy market? Simple: they gave customers what they wanted. And then they gave them more.

An Amazing Video Experience

Yes GO brought a dynamic viewing experience to customers’ smartphones, Macs and PCs, and tablets (which are owned by nearly 40% of Israeli TV subscribers). Viewers can now stream more than 60 channels of live TV, along with yes’ full video-on-demand (VoD) library, to their personal devices anywhere, inside and outside the home.

But what makes yes’ offering truly unique is the quality of the experience it delivers to customers. No matter which screen a subscriber uses to engage with yes TV services, the experience looks and feels the same, with the same outstanding quality. Linear channels use the same channel number, whether watching from a set-top box or a tablet. The VoD library and user interface is nearly identical across devices. When you purchase a VoD title from your set-top, it’s there for you on your tablet or smartphone. When you pause a program on your tablet, you can pick it up right where you left off on your TV. And with Cisco Videoscape adaptive bit rate (ABR) streaming intelligence, yes GO brings these experiences to users across the full range of their personal media devices, in excellent quality on every screen.

An Open Media Platform

The user experience is also incredible—a marked difference from anything else in Israel. Subscribers can see the most popular titles, get recommendations for live TV and VoD programs, and even see what their friends are watching. And they can recommend, comment on, and share on social media their favorite titles.

All of this is made possible by yes’ open, cloud-based solution—built entirely on a Cisco data center with Cisco Unified Computing System platforms and a Cisco Nexus® switching fabric. Yes’ Cisco Videoscape Media Suite content management and entitlement system, video encoders, and Cisco Videoscape Distribution Suite content delivery network (CDN) all employ industry standards and open APIs. So yes could easily integrate third-party user-interface elements, recommendation engines, and social media tools. Yes was also able to integrate with its legacy VoD content management system (CMS), gaining amazing new capabilities without having to rip and replace its existing investments.

The Best of Both Worlds

Yes’ Cisco Videoscape implementation highlights how a direct-to-home (DTH) operator can combine satellite-based broadcast TV with OTT unicast services to achieve the best of both worlds. Yes can bring together the countrywide reach of its satellite system (which allows them to reach places no cable or wireline provider can go) alongside state-of-the-art, personalized multiscreen cloud video experiences. And they can unify them into a single, seamless experience that their customers love.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Watch Itzhak Elyakim, CTO and vice president of Engineering, describe what Cisco Videoscape has done for yes. Or look at the bottom line: Since the yes GO launch, yes has seen a significant increase in both VoD purchases and standalone yes GO subscriptions, as well as a large number of customers upgrading to higher subscription tiers that include yes GO at no additional charge.

Working with Cisco, yes is delivering one of the most creative, cutting-edge cloud video experiences in the world, securing the loyalty of their customers and reaping significant financial rewards.

For more details, see the yes GO case study. And stay tuned for more updates from Cisco at CES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex96WyqtFq4

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