Israeli broadcaster IPBC (KAN) has one day left to pay a €12 Million security deposit to the European Broadcasting Union if it is to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest.
Today, most Israeli news sites report that the broadcaster has failed to convince government departments to guarantee the funds. Without government money, the only alternative is to take out a loan, but that would put the IPBC into debt and that’s not allowed under Israeli broadcasting law. The only way not to go into debt would be to fire hundreds of staff and curtail most other broadcasting projects.
Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon insists that this proves the broadcaster has enough money, whilst IPBC chair Gil Omer reasons that if the political scene changes in the country – and ultra orthodox politicians could easily topple the current Israeli ruling coalition – it may become impossible to stage the contest.
In such a case, the EBU would not refund the deposit and IPBC would have to close. The Israeli taxpayer would then pick up the bill.
The current deadline is tomorrow – expect another extension or a last-minute deal.
[…] an already extended deadline to deposit a security bond with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), there were reports that government pressure might lead the state broadcaster to pass on hosting the 2019 song […]