Israeli website nana10.co.il reports today that the national broadcaster IBA has proposed the commercial Channel 2 to repeat last year's cooperation, but was turned down.
2008 was a historical year in Israel, in terms of the Eurovision Song Contest. For the first time ever, the national final Kdam-Eurovision was produced and broadcasted by Kehset, one of 2 production companies of the commercial Channel 2. The show was split to two consecutive nights, during which Boaz Mauda, Israeli Pop Idol 5 winner, presented5 songs for the jury and the public to chose, for him to perform in Belgrade.
The cooperation turned out to be a success, from which the two broadcasters gained benefits. The two shows scored high numbers in the viewing figures and Kehset gained nice revenues from the public's televoting and commercials. On their part, IBA managed to restore some of the public's lost awareness to the Eurovision Song Contest. The entry's success in local charts also contributed to the boost in the contest's populatiry in the Israeli public. At the end, Boaz Mauda qualified to the final in Belgrade with 'The fire in your eyes' and even achieved a respectable 9th place, making this the 2nd best result of Israel in the contest, since 1999.
According to nana10.co.il, IBA has proposed Kehset to repeat last year's successful cooperation, under the same principals, but was turned down immediately. Sources in Keshet said that the true reason for declining the offer is an effect of the financial crisis. "Keshet came to realize that committing to such special productions will not be wise at these difficult times, when other of Channel 2 productions are being cancelled", said the source to nana10.co.il. IBA confirmed to nana10.co.il that there has been such an approach to Channel 2 and thatIBAis now looking into other alternatives.
We thank our reader Zohar Rashit for submitting these news!
