EBU Concerned About Break Down of Israeli Broadcasting Authority

GENEVA: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has expressed serious concern regarding the Israeli government's plan to dismantle the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which would see the country's public service broadcaster being shut down in 2015 and the license fee abolished.

Under the proposed dealings, the IBA would be broken down and replaced with a "slimmer and more efficient organization." The license fee would be done away with, meaning that any future public broadcaster would have to rely directly on government funding. The report did, however, recommend that through the transition Israel should not go a day without some form of public service broadcasting.

“It is deeply regrettable that such drastic steps have had to been taken," said EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre. "We shall watch vigilantly as the situation develops in Israel, to ensure that the… commitment to public service broadcasting will be honored."

"Scrapping the license fee is a step in the wrong direction," Deltenre continued.

The EBU is also concerned about the ten-month deadline that is set for the initial transition phase. “It is extremely ambitious to achieve all this within the next ten months," said Deltenre, "And a realistic timeframe is important to meet the expectations of all stakeholders. Whatever unforeseen delays and disputes may lay ahead, the bottom line is that Israelis must not spend a single day without public service media."