Israel’s satellite TV provider drops BBC World

Due to perceived anti-Israeli bias trickling down to ‘low customer satisfaction’, YES dropped Britain’s flagship broadcaster.

i24news

 

One of Israel’s main satellite TV providers has opted to drop the world-famous British Broadcasting Corporation from its line-up of channels, Israeli media reported Friday.

A BBC logo is pictured on a television screen inside the BBC's New Broadcasting House office in central London, on November 12, 2012 - Photo: Carl Court /AFP

A BBC logo is pictured on a television screen inside the BBC’s New Broadcasting House office in central London, on November 12, 2012 – Photo: Carl Court /AFP

The YES satellite company announced it would no longer host BBC World, as the channel enjoys low ratings in Israel as a consequence of being perceived to harbor anti-Israeli bias.

The company described the move as pragmatic rather than political, yet the specter of politics hovered in the background.

“Customer satisfaction with the channel is low, which is demonstrated in part by the data on the number of people watching it, which is very low,” a YES statement was quoted by Haaretz as saying.

“We believe the reason for this is our broad range of channels, especially the wide variety of international news stations, including six in English, such as Sky, FOX News, CNN News and other channels that can be viewed by all of our customers.”

The satellite provider further added the “British perspective” would still be represented on its roster by Sky News.

Britain’s flagship broadcaster will continue to be available in Israel on the HOT cable network, which enjoys a share of Israeli market proportionate to that of YES.

 

View original i24news publication at: http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/46533-141008-israeli-satellite-tv-provider-nixes-the-beeb