The Landes Committee for the reform of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has recommended scrapping the TV licensing fee as of March 31 2015. The committee also proposes closing the IBA's finance collections department and cutting the budget by 33%, and setting up a new body that will replace the existing broadcasting authority.

In submitting its recommendations to Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan, which were formulated over the past four and a half months, the Landes Committee insisted, "The recommendations should be seen as a whole. Taking out one stone could bring down the entire edifice."

The Landes Committee also recommends reducing the IBA's workforce from 1,700 to just 700 and appointing a liquidator for the authority's major real estate assets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which could be worth as much as NIS 1.2 billion.

The new IBA that the Landes Committee recommends will include 8 Israel Radio stations, and three TV channels Channel 1, Channel 33 in Arabic and Channel 23 for children aged 6-15. A merged News Division will be responsible for news on both TV and radio in Hebrew and Arabic.

Erdan welcomed the recommendations and said, "I'll do everything within my power to surmount the obstacles to implementing this report, and I believe they will be passed."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 6, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014