Officials sign massive IBA recovery plan
After five years of negotiations, deal gives agency NIS 770 million for planned reforms
Officials on Sunday signed a massive recovery plan which provides the Israel Broadcast Authority with an extra NIS 770 million in government grants and loans.
Representatives of the IBA, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry met at the cultural center in the city of Lod, the site of a planned new IBA complex, for an a signing ceremony. The reform deal took five years of negotiations to complete.
IBA chairman Amir Gilat said that without the deal the IBA would have “collapsed and disappeared.” He stressed that the recovery plan will allow for technological upgrades and more organizational efficiency.
Director-General of the PMO Harel Locker said the reform package will create new ways to finance public television and enable investment in original content.