Along with the dissolution of the Knesset, the small chance of regulating the television market in Israel will also disappear. The law relating to the broadcasting market has not been updated for 20 years and the Ministry of Communications has promised to publish the draft of the new law this week. It must now be assumed that at least by the end of the current year the law will not pass. This is how it will affect Israeli viewers:
1. The broadcasting market will remain hacked
What is expected to happen, therefore, is that the Second Authority and the Cable and Satellite Council will set conditions aimed at protecting competition in the market in a situation where FREETV enters the market. The regulators may oversee Rainbow and RGE to sell their channels equally and fairly to the other platforms. The main problem with this supervision is that it depends on the degree of activity of the Competition Authority, which has not proved that it is interested in intervening in this market in the past. Therefore, it is important that along with the conditions specified by the Cable and Satellite Council, the second authority emphasize that FREETV approval will be given for a limited period, at the end of which regulators will examine the impact of the venture on competition.
2. Free sports broadcasts will be canceled
The new Broadcasting Law hides a clause that will lead to the sports channels that are now open for free to all subscribers also being paid. The rationale behind it is that after TV companies are not obligated to buy the channel, its price will drop competitively and the law will also prevent the current situation where non-sports TV customers pay for the open channel broadcast, which inevitably raises the price a TV viewer has to pay to watch sports. If you are a sports spectator and thought that now with the dissolution of the government you can breathe a sigh of relief, and at least the open sports channel will continue to be provided free of charge, then this is not the case: in its opinion The duty of the open channel. The dissolution of the government brings us closer to this moment but greatly reduces the ability of the general public to oppose this step, since the decision on it will not go through the Knesset committee.
3. The original content will be reduced
The influx of streaming apps is leading the platforms to sell lean and cheap packages, sometimes at the expense of the variety of content they provide. The regulation on television platforms, which requires them to invest in and encourage original Israeli content, does not apply to broadcasts on the Internet. Thus, as long as the new Broadcasting Act is not passed, the local content industry will continue to shrink daily as customers move to online service.
In recent weeks, following pressure from the Producers’ Association, FREETV has pledged to invest 8% of their revenue in original content, and even announced a first production. This commitment is an example of how the market can produce rules for itself through the pressure of unions even when there is no regulation. But the company did so primarily to generate broad support for itself that would allow the other authority to authorize it to enter the market.
Huge international players like Netflix or Disney – those who can really bring the real and big money to the original productions market, will not be so easily moved by pressure from groups like the Israel Producers Association, and even Internet TV actresses who are not currently committed to investing in original content like Partner and Cellcom show no A sign that they are about to change their policy, of not investing in original content.
Bottom line, despite the great efforts of the various unions in the industry, only a clear and decisive law, a rigid and decisive policy on the part of the Minister of Communications with political ability to pass the controversial Knesset law will save the Israeli content industry, and these two can not happen in the current political climate.