Newspaper Page Text
Arabs outbid them
Israel TV suffers for lack of dollars
ABOUT half of Israel’s 600,-
000 TV set owners would like to
see an opera broadcast on the
screen. But the other half would
reach for the “off” button,
preferring a thriller, basketball
game or family comedy.
How do you please everybody
in a heterogeneous country like
Israel?
“Start a second channel," ad-
vim Yitzhak Shi-
moni, director
of TV’s unit for
foreign contacts
and special pro
jects.
“TV made a
big mistake by
not starting with
two channels,”
notes Shimoni. “Radio audi
ences weren’t happy until the
Second Programme was intro
duced.”
But until the Broadcasting
Authority finds the money for
another channel (Shimoni in
sists that commercial TV adver
tising is inevitable) or more
high-quality local productions,
variety can be achieved through
a careful selection of foreign
films and series.
Viewers who grumble that
Israel TV “never” airs recent
American feature films and
“always” broadcasts serialized
shows after they have been run
on Jordan or Lebanon TV must
understand Israel’s handicaps,
says Shimoni.
The rich Arab
stations can af
ford to buy their
own film prints
of a program,
often without
even previewing
it. After adding
the subtitles in
Arabie and broad
casting it, they usually send the
print to other Middle Eastern
countries, thus making the costs
much lower.
But Israel, with a shoe-string
budget TV station, must make
do with hand-me-downs from
Holland, Belgium and other
countries with whom it has a
“bicycling” agreement. Such a
Israel economic forecast
indicates struggle ahead
print costs only $600 to $700 for
each one-time showing, but it
arrives late because other coun
tries broadcast it before it
reaches Israel.
Israeli TV is also hampered by
American film companies who
are unwilling to sell it recent
films. “Israeli cinema owners
argue that airing such films on
TV hurts their business,” ex
plains Shimoni. But he personal
ly believes that this contention is
untrue. "Movies are not usually
the most popular shows on TV,
and they don’t empty out the
cinemas.” But the American
firms state that as long as Israel
TV and the country’s cinemas
can’t reach an understanding
among themselves, they as out
siders will not interfere.
The Arab boycott also affects
the purchase of foreign films.
Some film companies refuse to
deal with Israel, while others
like MCA-Universal, says
Shimoni, “which have Jews at
the top level,” sell to other coun
tries before they sell to us. Few
of the Jewish film magnates
want their products shown in
Israel soley for sentimental
reasons, he adds. “It’s all done on
a strictly business basis.”
— Jerusalem Post
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TEL AVIV (ZINS) - A
forecast by economic observers
of what lies ahead in 1977
appeared in a recent issue of
Israel’s afternoon daily,
“Ma’ariv”. This is what the ex
perts had to say on a variety of
topics — Aliya and Emigration:
— expected number of new olim
— 20,000; those leaving the
country — 14,000. Irt recent
years the rate of emigration has
been quite substantial. In 1975
there were 21,000 new arrivals,
but at the same time 20,000 left
the country to settle elsewhere.
Last year, in 1976, there were
15,000 who left Israel as against
20,000 new immigrants.
The Economy: Unemployment
is expected to rise with 60,000
jobless, compared with 41,000
out of work in 1976. The rate of
inflation will be a whopping
31%, the experts say. The trade
deficit will be $3.3 billion, $100
million greater than in 1976.
Israel’s foreign debt will grow by
$1.1 billion and total $10.1 billion
by year’s end. Foreign currency
reserve^ it is predicted, will re
main at about the same level as
now, i.e. $1,156 million. Exports
will rise by 10%, but the gain
will be offset by an equal rise of
imports. Domestic consumption
will drop by 1% as against an in
crease in consumer spending of
2.5% last year. Finally, the gross
national product will show only
a modest gain of 1%, according
to the “Ma’ariv” article.
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Page 17 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE April 8,