The Israeli Network, the television channel that broadcasts Israeli programming to Jewish and Israeli communities abroad, signed a broadcast agreement with the French media giant, FREE.
As part of the media agreement with FREE, the Israeli channel will be accessible to 1,800,000 households throughout France.
The Israeli Network will be sold as a single channel for a monthly payment of 3.99 euros, or as part of a comprehensive package deal that will include unlimited phone service to Israel and France, unlimited high-speed internet, and about 200 additional television channel for a price of 33.98 euros a month.
'Wave of new advertisers'
Naftali Meiron, CEO of the Israeli Network: “This is the first of many planned steps at the network to broaden our subscription and viewer base throughout the world. We hope in a short time to be able to duplicate our US broadcast model, and to create a dominant international channel for viewers and advertisers.”
Vice President of Marketing, Golan Shaked: “The agreement with FREE allows the Israeli Network to reach a broader audience through easy access, service, and low prices for the final customer. Now that the Israeli Network will be easily accessible to the Jewish community of France, we are witnessing a wave of new advertisers on the channel, directing their product marketing at this attractive market.”
The French Jewish community numbers around 500,000 people, part of which has basic knowledge of Hebrew. Most of the community is concentrated around Paris (with approximately 350,000) and Marseilles (with approximately 70,000).
The French Jewish community is thought to have one of the warmest relationships with Israel. Even during the tourism slump in Israel, it was actually the Jews of France that still came in droves to Israel, most of whom have property in the country.
The Israeli Network was established in 2001 with the objective of providing quality television broadcasts to Israelis and Jews living around the world. The network has exclusive broadcast rights from Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 10, Hop, the Sports Channel, the cable companies and many producers. The Israeli Network’s viewers are spread throughout the US, Canada, the European continent, Australia, New Zealand, and select countries in Latin America. The Israeli Network is owned by I.V.P., Carden Media, Merlaz Media, and Monarchy Enterprises, owned by Arnon Meilchen.