IPBC operates three television channels, eight radio stations, and produces many packages of digital content including podcasts, network series and video content. The broadcaster’s main television channel is Kan 11, which specializes in news, current affairs and cultural programs, but it also broadcasts entertainment, satire and investigative journalism. IPBC also runs Kan Educational TV, a dedicated channel for children and youth, and Makan 33, an Arabic language channel focused on news and cultural programs.
Media assets
Television: Kan 11, Makan 33, Kan Educational
Radio: Kan Tarbut, Kan Reshet Bet (Kan Network B), Kan Gimel (Kan C), MaKan, Kan Farsi, Kan Reka, Kan 88, Kan Moreshet, Kan Kol Ha Musica, Kan Nostalgia, Kan Yam Tichon, Kan Tel Aviv 2019
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent State-Funded and State-Managed (ISFM)
Ownership and governance
The IPBC was legally established in 2015 to replace Israeli Broadcast Authority (IBA), a bureaucratic and malfunctioning predecessor. IPBC is a public corporation whose main governing structure is the Board, comprising 12 members, all appointed by the minister of communications for a four-year term. The board is appointed following a process of nominations made by a search committee from which the minister chooses to make the appointments. The board must include at least six women and at least one Arab member. The Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who at the time was also minister of communications, appointed the board in 2016.
The main tasks of the board are to draft IPBC’s corporate policy, approve broadcast schedules and budgets, appoint the general manager of the company (who has a four-year tenure) and supervise the IPBC’s management performance.
Source of funding and budget
Some 88% of the IPBC’s budget comes from the state. The funding is channeled through the ministry of transports and raised from revenues generated by an annual vehicle license fee, according to the latest available IPBC budget available (for 2018). The remainder comes from advertising and other sources. In 2023, IPBC operated with a total budget of ILS 822.8m (US$ 228m), according to data obtained by Media and Journalism Research Center.
In January 2023, the communications minister Shlomo Karhi said that he plans to close the broadcaster and distribute the funds that the government gives to IPBC to several media outlets in Israel, a move that, he said, is expected to spur competition in the country’s media market. However, critics say, the plans of the Israeli government to sideline IPBC are prompted by the critical coverage and independence of the broadcaster. In February 2023, the government announced that plans to defund IPBC were “delayed indefinitely” as the Israeli authorities had other priorities on their plate. In July 2023, the communications ministry released a plan aimed at reforming the country’s media scene, which includes prohibition for IPBC to carry advertising. IPBC now generates roughly ILS 100m a year from ad sales.
Editorial independence
When IPBC was created through a new broadcast law adopted in 2014, the government strived to ensure that it would maintain its control of the country’s public broadcaster. Some politicians openly admitted that there was no point in launching a public media outlet if the government didn’t have control over it. In the years after the adoption of the law, the government went to lengths in trying to postpone as much as possible the launch of the newly created public broadcaster to ensure that it secured its control over the station’s editorial coverage before it went on air.
However, as the premier Netanyahu has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals and electoral fights during the past few years, and IPBC’s journalists constantly pushed back against attempts by the government to secure editorial control, the government eventually gave up its plans to cement a stronger influence in IPBC’s editorial affairs, according to local experts interviewed by the Media and Journalism Research Center. Instead, in recent years, the Israeli authorities have been increasingly talking about shutting down IPBC as a more convenient method to end criticism.
The section 7 of the broadcasting law states that the content provided by IPBC “shall reflect and document the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, its values and the heritage of Israel and give fair, equal and balanced expression to the diversity of views and opinions prevalent in the Israeli public.” The broadcaster is also obliged by law to stand by a set of professional rules and journalistic standards.
No body or mechanism to independently validate the independence of IPBC’s media channels has been identified.
August 2023