Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan circulated a draft bill yesterday for splitting Channel 2 and setting up two separate channels, of Keshet and Reshet, that will broadcast seven days a week.
As first reported in "Globes", the planned date for the split is April 1, 2015.
Under the draft bill, each of the two channels will maintain its own news company. A pricing process will be enabled between Reshet and Keshet for Channel 2 News. If the two franchisees fail to reach agreement, the news company will be the subject of an auction between the two.
The bill makes no reference to Channel 10 or to extending its franchise.
An unexpected section of the bill refers to the archive of "a news company that will be closed", which in practice presumably means the Channel 10 news company, the future of which is uncertain.
The bill in effect steals Channel 10's archive from it, in the event that it is shut down, requiring it to transfer the archive to the state authorities. The bill explains that the archive will be transferred to "a public body for the coming generations in a centralized way such that it will be available for the public to use without payment."
This means that Channel 10 will not be able to benefit from 10 News' valuable archive, if it reaches a position in which it seeks to sell its assets.
Under existing law, Keshet and Reshet's franchise period is until October 31, 2015, with the possibility of an extension until the end of 2017. Channel 10's franchise is until December 31, 2014.
The new bill proposes cutting the franchise periods of the Channel 2 franchisees by seven months and cancelling the extension option "in order to maintain competition and a wide range of content in commercial television broadcasting and commercial news broadcasting."
In effect, the aim of the bill is to prevent a monopoly arising should Channel 10 not survive beyond this year.
Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan said, "This move will boost competition in commercial television broadcasting and broaden the content offering on the screen."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 2, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013