Israeli digital satellite broadcaster Yes, which finally made its much-delayed debut on July 15, has reported that it has connected 10,000 subscribers.

The figure is low but the broadcaster's operations have been restricted by an on-going confrontation with the country's cable operators which have been reluctant to share programming. As a result, Yes has focused on rural areas that the cablers consider unprofitable to reach.

Yes is broadcasting some 80 channels in packages priced from $22 for Yes Bronze to $55 for Yes Gold. The basic Bronze package includes the national networks, CNN, BBC Prime, BBC World, MTV, Eurosport, Sky News, Hallmark and TCM. All except TCM are available on cable. Customers also have access to nine pay-per-view channels.

More expensive packages include three film channels and foreign-language broadcasts, including Arabic, Russian, French, German and Spanish.