The Channel 2 franchise holders are suing the Second Broadcasting Authority (Channel 2). As reported in “Globes”, the franchise holders will petition the High Court of Justice against the Second Broadcasting Authority for an extension of their licenses.
Franchise holder Tel-Ad Jerusalem Studios today petitioned for a show cause order against the Second Broadcasting Authority, citing the terms imposed on the Channel 2 franchise holders for extending their licenses from November 2003 until November 2005.
The petition was filed simultaneously with a request to the Second Broadcasting Authority for a license extension, two days before the deadline. Keshet and Reshet, the other two franchise holders, are expected to follow suit by submitting requests for license extensions and also petitioning the High Court of Justice against the Second Broadcasting Authority. Some Reshet board members are expected to meet on the matter today, and Keshet will also made a final decision today.
The decisions have presumably already been taken, and the companies’ legal advisors have already prepared the petitions, but the actually filing of the petitions will take place today.
As reported in “Globes”, the franchise holders’ claims, based on forecasts commissioned and received by the Second Broadcasting Authority concerning the their great difficulty in fulfilling the terms for a license extension, were rejected by the Second Broadcasting Authority. The franchise holders assert that the Authority’s harsh terms will cause them heavy losses.
Tel-Ad CEO Uzi Peled said today that the Second Broadcasting Authority “had left us with no choice other than to petition the High Court of Justice. They set terms that would have caused us NIS 200 million in losses in two years… We’re not looking for favors; we just want them to understand that if they want good TV, they should make sure the shareholders don’t lose money.”
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 17, 2003