Israeli Network Reshet Says It Is Canceling Merger With Channel Ten

Israeli television network Reshet has announced that it is canceling its planned merger with fellow network Channel Ten, saying that foot-dragging by the country’s broadcasting authority, whose final approval is required, had put it in an untenable position.

“The broadcast authority’s avoidance of a decision on the merger request has led to its cancellation,” Reshet said in a surprise statement Monday. “Despite the deal signed between Reshet and Channel Ten, and despite the understanding that a merger between the two channels is the best solution for the Israeli television market, the Reshet shareholders were forced to announce today the cancellation of the merger.”

Reshet said that its board would meet in the coming days to formally cancel the merger and that it would revert to its full programming schedule, undoing the preliminary work it had undertaken to integrate Channel Ten. The network said it could not continue indefinitely in the uncertainty brought about by the broadcasting authority’s foot-dragging.

Israel’s Antitrust Authority had already given its approval to the merger in August, after the two financially ailing networks said that joining forces was their only option for survival. Since Israel’s commercial Channel 2 split in two last year, forcing networks Keshet and Reshet to begin broadcasting on separate channels, the Israeli TV industry – and, in particular, Reshet and Channel Ten, the only other commercial Israeli network – has been suffering. Since the split, Reshet and Keshet have aired the same news broadcast simultaneously, while Channel Ten airs the only other commercial nightly news program.