IPBC operates three television channels and 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 the Israeli Broadcast Authority (IBA), a bureaucratic and malfunctioning predecessor. IPBC is a public corporation whose main governing structure is the Board, comprising 12 members 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 one Arab member. The former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also minister of communications at the time, 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
According to IPBC data for 2018, 88% of the IPBC’s budget comes from the state. The funding is channeled through the Ministry of Transport and raised from revenues generated by an annual vehicle license fee. The remainder comes from advertising and other sources. In 2023, IPBC operated with a total budget of ILS 822.8m (US$228 m).
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 strategy to reform the country’s media scene, including prohibiting IPBC from carrying advertising. IPBC now generates roughly ILS 100m a year from ad sales.
In March 2024, the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, approved the Israeli Public Broadcasting Bill sponsored by Ariel Kallner, an MP from the Likud party. According to the bill, the Economic Affairs Committee is given the power to investigate the main points of the reports after their submission. According to the bill’s sponsor, the newly proposed legal provisions aim to prevent the misuse of power and ensure transparency over the spending of taxpayer money. However, critics say that the bill will only lead to cementing government control in Israel’s public media. According to an earlier plan announced by Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, IPBC would be forbidden to sell ads and content produced by the corporation, such as movies. These provisions, if implemented, would financially destabilize IPBC and make it more vulnerable to government pressures.
Editorial independence
When IPBC was created through a new broadcast law adopted in 2014, the government strived to ensure it would maintain its control of the country’s public broadcaster. Some politicians openly admitted there was no point in launching a public media outlet if the government didn’t have control over it. In the years after the law’s adoption, the government went to lengths to postpone the launch of the newly created public broadcaster as much as possible to ensure that it secured its control over the station’s editorial coverage before it went on air.
However, as the former 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 more substantial influence in IPBC’s editorial affairs, according to local experts interviewed for an academic report published in recent years. Instead, in recent years, the Israeli authorities have been increasingly talking about shutting down IPBC.
Since mid-2023, the government has been relentlessly attacking IPBC, threatening to introduce legal provisions that would destabilize the broadcaster. Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi, in particular, has repeatedly slammed IPBC, accusing the broadcaster of political bias.
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 legally obliged 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.
Despite the barrage of government attacks on the IPBC, we have not demoted the broadcaster to the State Controlled category in our typology as the broadcaster’s staff seem to still fight back against these pressures. Moreover, analysis of the broadcaster’s news content carried out during the months of January 2024 and March 2024 found no clear bias in the government’s favor. On the contrary, IPBC’s news coverage became even more factual compared to previous years, often presenting various points of view untouched, possibly to prevent further government attacks.
July 2024