Public broadcaster says it doesn’t have funds to host Eurovision
12 August, 2018 |
7 years ago
Jerusalem, 12 August, 2018 (TPS-IL) -- Israel could have to forfeit hosting the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, the chairman of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) Gil Omer warned in a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday.
Omer said the IPBC is unable to put up the 12 million euro deposit required by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as collateral for the production rights as that would require laying off 200 employees or cancelling original programming. He called on the government to put up the collateral. Israel’s Treasury has so far refused to provide the funds, and should a solution not be found by August 14th, Israel, which emerged victorious in the 2018 Eurovision in Lisbon, will have to forfeit its right to host the competition.
