A survey conducted by The Israeli Consumer Council discovers that the basic viewing package in Israel includes 49 channels ("Yes" satellite services) or 62 channels ("HOT" cable communications company) and costs approximately 210 NIS per month.
The Israeli Consumer Council wishes to promote a bill to institute a restricted basic viewing package that obligates the cable companies to offer a limited basic package that includes a smaller number of channels at a reasonable cost. Additional channels will be provided with a fee and only by the consumer's specific demand, therefore the consumers will pay only for the channels they are interested in.
The cable and satellite suppliers oppose this proposition, claiming it will negatively impact their revenue.
In order to promote the bill, the Israeli Consumer Council approached members of its consumer organization with the request to count the number of channels they watch, and tell the prime minister, as well as the ministers of finance and communications about it.
Reports of organization members showed that the consumers watch an average of only 9.5 channels, meaning most of the channels offered in the base package are not being watched by consumers at all, therefore the consumers are paying for channels they are not interested in whatsoever.
Hundreds of consumer's letters were sent to the ministers and prime minister with the demand to carry out the limited package reform. The Consumer Council's general manager, Adv. Ehud Peleg, added a letter of his own to the prime minister, stating this- "When the consumers' voice is heard so clearly regarding a basic service that is used by nearly every home in Israel, there can be no escape from realizing that actions have to be taken to promote the bill for institution of a basic limited package.
In this method, the consumer will be able to avoid unnecessary payments and will pay solely for channels he wants". The Council's general manager further added -"The freedom of choosing what channels to pay for is an expression of the autonomy of a person's free will, which has been recognized as a basic consumer value by court rule".
