[The Jerusalem Post]

EBU concerned public broadcasting that is totally dependent on the state budget is more vulnerable to political influence.

Public broadcasting that is totally dependent on the state budget is more vulnerable to political influence, according to the European Broadcasting Union, which has condemned the cabinet's decision to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority within a year.

The EBU has expressed grave concern over the impending closure and the decision to establish another entity in its place, EBU director-general Ingrid Deltenre declared on learning of the decision. The IBA has been in consultation with the EBU ever since Communications Minister Gilad Erdan made public his intention to dismantle the IBA.

[El Mundo]

Poner el candado en la vieja y cara tienda para abrir otra más pequeña y rentable. Así se puede interpretar el anuncio lanzado por el Gobierno israelí sobre el futuro del servicio público de televisión y radio. En la presentación de las conclusiones de la comisión que ha estudiado cómo tapar sus enormes agujeros económicos, técnicos, políticos y de audiencia, los ministros de Comunicaciones, Gilad Erdan, y Finanzas, Yair Lapid comunicaron el cierre el próximo año del ente estatal de radiotelevisión. De sus cenizas -prometen- nacerá un organismo que aspira a ser más barato e independiente y competir con los poderosos tiburones de la industria privada.

En el camino de esta histórica remodelación que requiere la aprobación del Parlamento, se prevé el despido de la mitad de los casi 2.000 empleados. Teniendo en cuenta la fuerza sindical, no será tan sencillo.

[Jerusalem Post]

Erdan announces closure of Israel Broadcast Authority

Communications minister says he is replacing IBA and Educational Television with a new structure for public broadcasting, cancelling broadcast levy.

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan announced on Thursday he is putting into motion measures to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Educational Television and replace them with a new structure.

The broadcast license fee will be eliminated by the end of March 2015, Erdan added.

The radio fee for vehicle owners will, however, be retained.

There are to be three television channels, one in Hebrew, one in Arabic and one for children.

The eight radio stations currently operating will remain, but the news departments will be amalgamated into a single division for radio and television. Radio commercials will be eliminated. The IBA's assets are to be sold.

The new structure will be run by a directorate that will be transparent and will not be answerable to the government, Finance Minister yair Lapid said.

[Variety]

The Israel Broadcasting Authority, the nation’s sole public broadcaster, earned an eleventh-hour reprieve last month after nearly succumbing to the death knell, which has been tolling for the beleaguered station for years. The clemency, however, is temporary — the IBA, which encompasses several radio and television stations and serves as employer to some of Israel’s oldest and most distinguished journalists, is but one of a long list of troubled cultural institutions in Israel relying on public funds and finding its survival increasingly uncertain.

The station was first put on life support in early 2014, when then Communications Minister Gilad Erdan announced that he had reached a limit of frustration with the IBA’s sloppy finances and that he was shuttering the organization entirely. A brand new structure for public broadcasting, Erdan said, would be built in its place.

The announcement came after decades of bickering over the IBA’s political loyalties and its handling of public tax dollars. No fewer than 14 committees have been established in the Israeli government over the years to dissect the organization and offer solutions for its improvement, but not a single one of them led to real change. With Erdan’s announcement, however, it seemed that the IBA may actually be doomed for good.

Clear plans for the new broadcasting authority were hard to come by, but Israeli producer Ram Landes, who helped establish the nation’s two commercial television channels (Channel 2 and Channel 10, the latter of which has been doing its own death dance with the government for years), laid out the bare bones for the media: The new broadcasting authority would include all eight stations of Israeli Radio, Israel’s public Channel 1 TV station, a children’s station, sports and news programs, and a station featuring exclusively Arabic programming.

La historia reciente de la radiotelevisión pública israelí tiene mucho en común con la de la española. Es una historia de dificultades económicas y pérdida de audiencia que la han colocado al borde del colapso. Un medio de comunicación que ha pasado de ser una referencia informativa indiscutible a tener que competir con Internet y con las cadenas privadas que le han arrebatado el liderazgo aunque, bien es cierto, que su caída en la audiencia es mucho más dramática. El primer ministro Benjamin Netanyahu está elaborando un plan, encargado al Ministerio de Comunicaciones, para poner una nueva corporación de radiodifusión pública bajo un mayor control político.

[El País]

Tras haber impulsado hace dos años la creación de la Corporación Pública de Radiotelevisión, para modernizar el histórico ente estatal Autoridad de Radiotelevisión de Israel, Benjamín Netanyahu maniobra ahora para hacer abortar su nacimiento. El primer ministro conservador no ha visto con buenos ojos la designación profesional de directivos y periodistas que considera rivales a su política al frente de la nueva Corporación, que tiene previsto tomar el relevo en las ondas con un marchamo de independencia el próximo 1 de enero.

El Comité de Economía de la Knesset (Parlamento israelí) fue escenario este miércoles de la comparecencia del presidente de la Corporación, Gil Omer, quien confirmó que los canales del nuevo organismo estaban preparados para comenzar sus emisiones en la fecha prevista. El debate sobre el nuevo modelo de radiotelevisión pública acapara el debate político en Israel en un momento en el que la atención parecía estar concentrada en las elecciones en Estados Unidos, el aliado militar y financiero insustituible.

[Variety]

The Israel Broadcasting Authority, the nation’s sole public broadcaster, earned an eleventh-hour reprieve last month after nearly succumbing to the death knell, which has been tolling for the beleaguered station for years. The clemency, however, is temporary — the IBA, which encompasses several radio and television stations and serves as employer to some of Israel’s oldest and most distinguished journalists, is but one of a long list of troubled cultural institutions in Israel relying on public funds and finding its survival increasingly uncertain.

The station was first put on life support in early 2014, when then Communications Minister Gilad Erdan announced that he had reached a limit of frustration with the IBA’s sloppy finances and that he was shuttering the organization entirely. A brand new structure for public broadcasting, Erdan said, would be built in its place.

The announcement came after decades of bickering over the IBA’s political loyalties and its handling of public tax dollars. No fewer than 14 committees have been established in the Israeli government over the years to dissect the organization and offer solutions for its improvement, but not a single one of them led to real change. With Erdan’s announcement, however, it seemed that the IBA may actually be doomed for good.

Clear plans for the new broadcasting authority were hard to come by, but Israeli producer Ram Landes, who helped establish the nation’s two commercial television channels (Channel 2 and Channel 10, the latter of which has been doing its own death dance with the government for years), laid out the bare bones for the media: The new broadcasting authority would include all eight stations of Israeli Radio, Israel’s public Channel 1 TV station, a children’s station, sports and news programs, and a station featuring exclusively Arabic programming.

[The Jerusalem Post]

EBU concerned public broadcasting that is totally dependent on the state budget is more vulnerable to political influence.

Public broadcasting that is totally dependent on the state budget is more vulnerable to political influence, according to the European Broadcasting Union, which has condemned the cabinet's decision to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority within a year.

The EBU has expressed grave concern over the impending closure and the decision to establish another entity in its place, EBU director-general Ingrid Deltenre declared on learning of the decision. The IBA has been in consultation with the EBU ever since Communications Minister Gilad Erdan made public his intention to dismantle the IBA.

[El Mundo]

Poner el candado en la vieja y cara tienda para abrir otra más pequeña y rentable. Así se puede interpretar el anuncio lanzado por el Gobierno israelí sobre el futuro del servicio público de televisión y radio. En la presentación de las conclusiones de la comisión que ha estudiado cómo tapar sus enormes agujeros económicos, técnicos, políticos y de audiencia, los ministros de Comunicaciones, Gilad Erdan, y Finanzas, Yair Lapid comunicaron el cierre el próximo año del ente estatal de radiotelevisión. De sus cenizas -prometen- nacerá un organismo que aspira a ser más barato e independiente y competir con los poderosos tiburones de la industria privada.

En el camino de esta histórica remodelación que requiere la aprobación del Parlamento, se prevé el despido de la mitad de los casi 2.000 empleados. Teniendo en cuenta la fuerza sindical, no será tan sencillo.

[Jerusalem Post]

Erdan announces closure of Israel Broadcast Authority

Communications minister says he is replacing IBA and Educational Television with a new structure for public broadcasting, cancelling broadcast levy.

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan announced on Thursday he is putting into motion measures to close the Israel Broadcasting Authority and Educational Television and replace them with a new structure.

The broadcast license fee will be eliminated by the end of March 2015, Erdan added.

The radio fee for vehicle owners will, however, be retained.

There are to be three television channels, one in Hebrew, one in Arabic and one for children.

The eight radio stations currently operating will remain, but the news departments will be amalgamated into a single division for radio and television. Radio commercials will be eliminated. The IBA's assets are to be sold.

The new structure will be run by a directorate that will be transparent and will not be answerable to the government, Finance Minister yair Lapid said.