Israel Broadcasting Authority


The Israel Broadcasting Authority was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 until May 2017.

History

The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on 14 March 1948. The name of the organization operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951. The law creating the Israel Broadcasting Authority was passed by the Knesset on 6 June 1965. Television broadcasts commenced on 2 May 1968, with color television following on 23 February 1983, although occasional color transmissions, of such events as the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 and the visit of the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1977, had been made earlier.
IBA operated two television channels and eight radio stations.
In 1990, the Israeli parliament passed a law which resulted in the creation of the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority, whose function was to enable and regulate commercial television and private radio broadcasts in Israel. Before the establishment of the Second Broadcasting Authority and the subsequent widespread availability in Israel of cable television and satellite pay TV services and 2001, the IBA had enjoyed a virtual monopoly of television and radio broadcasting and production in the country. There were a few exceptions, such as the morning and afternoon broadcasts produced by Israel Educational Television and delivered via the IBA's television channel, the popular Israel Defense Forces Radio service, and a private radio station which operated offshore, outside Israeli territorial waters.
Most of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's domestic programming was funded until the end of 2015 by the levying of television license fees upon the owners of television sets. This fee was the primary source of revenue for the IBA's television services; however, its radio stations, however, carried full advertising and its TV programs were sometimes "sponsored" by commercial entities as a supplement this income. Additionally, all car owners in Israel paid a radio levy through their annual car ownership license. IBA broadcasting was covered by the code of ethics set out in the Nakdi Report.
The IBA was admitted as a full active member of the European Broadcasting Union in 1957. The decision made by the EBU General Assembly had the immediate effect that two founding broadcasters quit as active members.
The IBA provided news programming in 14 foreign languages, directed at audiences both abroad and in Israel through its IBA News programming available on the internet and through rebroadcasters. The IBA ceased to use short wave for its radio overseas transmissions in the mid 2000s.
In 2014, the Israeli cabinet approved reforms that would see the IBA closed and a new public broadcasting body take its place. The replacement network would operate three separate television channels: a Hebrew, an Arabic, and a children's channel. As part of the reforms, the television tax levied on all Israelis who own a television to support the IBA was to be abolished by March 2015. Eventually the reform did not advance as originally planned and the target date was extended to 2018. Eight new national radio stations were to be created in place of the existing Kol Israel radio network.
The IBA was supposed be replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation on 1 October 2016, but the launch was postponed until the beginning of 2018, The proposed model for the IBC had been criticized by the European Broadcasting Union, which disliked the tying of the IBC's finances to budgets decided upon directly by politicians and the planned absence of news services. EBU rules prescribe that a public broadcaster must provide a news service in order to qualify for membership. After several delays, the plans were changed to allow the new broadcasting service was planned to start its operations on 15 May 2017.

Closure

Two hours before the broadcast of "Mabat LaHadashot" on 9 May 2017, the staff was informed that it would be the last show. Partial programming on Channel 1 resumed the next day, without news programs, while Channel 33 was shut down with just a slide explaining the closure in Arabic. All IBA Radio stations continued to broadcast news on the hour and music programming until 15 May.
The final program shown by the IBA TV Channel 1 was the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 where Israel was a finalist. A minimal crew of twenty people had remained to ensure a smooth broadcast of the second semi-final on 11 May, with the grand final on 13 May. The program was televised on Channel 1 with no commentary and subtitles during the program for voting purposes. IBA's 88FM radio station also broadcast the program, with live commentary by Kobi Menora, Dori Ben Ze’ev and Alon Amir. During announcement of the Israeli jury's votes, announcer Ofer Nachshon bade farewell to the contest on behalf of the IBA.
The final IBA transmission was a radio broadcast of the program "Progressive and Other Animals" on 88FM on 14 May, hosted by Boaz Cohen. The last song to be broadcast was Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".

TV channels

Kol Yisrael is the collective name for IBA's radio networks, as well as for the international service.