חוק הרשות השנייה לטלוויזיה ורדיו (תיקון מס' 50), התשפ"ו–2026Second Authority for Television and Radio Law (Amendment No. 50), 2026 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The amendment to the law enables commercial FM (analog radio) broadcasts without geographic restriction, in contrast to the current situation in which radio broadcasts may only be national (the radio stations of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation and Galei Tzahal) or regional (regional radio stations). First, the amendment establishes that the Council of the Second Authority for Television and Radio (hereinafter – the Council) will grant licenses for analog radio broadcasts by way of a public tender, and the validity period of such licenses will be 18 years. The amendment also establishes that a first tender of this kind will not be published unless two conditions are met: first, that the Frequency Committee, which is the body authorized under the Wireless Telegraph Ordinance to allocate radio frequencies, finds that it is possible to allocate frequencies enabling broadcasts without geographic restriction to at least two holders of analog radio broadcast licenses; and second, that if the Frequency Committee decides to withdraw a frequency from a body currently broadcasting radio with national coverage, the withdrawal will not materially harm that body's broadcasts. In addition, the amendment establishes provisions regarding the conditions for granting the license and provisions regarding the methods of deciding whether a tender for granting an analog radio broadcast license will be based on the highest amount offered by the competitors, or on other criteria, including production capability, the variety of broadcasts and their characteristics, and the amount offered by the competitors in the tender, and also establishes the arrangements that will apply to license holders, similar to the regulatory arrangement currently applying to radio broadcast concession holders (such as prohibited broadcasts). The amendment also establishes a new arrangement regarding concessions for regional radio broadcasts. Under this arrangement, the validity of the existing concessions for regional radio broadcasts will be extended until 31 December 2032, among other things in order to allow the existing concession holders to prepare to submit proposals in tenders for obtaining licenses for analog radio broadcasts without geographic restriction. However, toward the end of the extension period, new tenders will be published for granting regional radio broadcast concessions, and the validity of the new concessions granted following those tenders will be 18 years. In addition, the amendment establishes that regarding an existing regional radio concession holder who does not submit a proposal in a tender for an analog radio license or does not win such a tender under the new arrangement, the extension mechanism currently established in the law will continue to apply, insofar as it is entitled to such extensions. Under this arrangement, the Council will be permitted to extend the concession of such a concession holder without a tender, until the completion of the maximum extension period currently permitted by law, while reducing the extension period (up to 31 December 2032) that will be added to it by virtue of the current amendment.

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Sponsors

Eli Dallal, Ahmad Tibi, Oded Forer, Moshe Saada, Ofir Katz