The governing coalition passed a preliminary vote on Wednesday on a bill that will enable the communications minister to determine the method of measuring viewer ratings of the country’s TV channels.
Viewer rating measurements collect data, including the number of viewers and the demographic makeup of television programs.
The current measurement system, which has been run by the independent and not-for-profit Israeli Audience Research Board (“va’adat hamidrug”) since 1995, is based on a technology called “people-meter,” a device installed on televisions that records viewed content throughout all hours of the day.
The device uses a special remote control to identify which household member is watching at any moment. The sample of households where the measuring device is installed, called a panel, includes some 700 families comprised of 2,200 individuals, who represent the nation’s demographic makeup.
The demographic characteristics of the viewers are taken in advance and can be cross-referenced with viewing data monitored by the device over time.
The rating measurements serve a number of purposes. First and foremost, they serve as a shared mechanism for broadcasting bodies and advertisers to determine the price of a minute of airtime on any given channel at any given time.
They also enable private broadcasting executives and public broadcasters to determine the success of specific shows.
The bill’s supporters, namely Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi (Likud), have argued that the “people-meter” mechanism is outdated, as it does not effectively monitor today’s diversified viewing methods, which include streaming and Internet providers.
The bill will enable the government to create a better and more trustworthy system for rating measurements, supporters have said.
However, the bill’s detractors, including members of the opposition, broadcasters, and the Attorney-General’s Office, have argued that it could serve as a tool for the government to influence the ratings and thus the income from advertising of different broadcasts.
This in turn could serve as a financial sanction the government can wield against unfriendly content. While many detractors have agreed that the measurement system needs to be updated, they have argued this must be done without government intervention.
The bill also requires that television broadcasters display the new rating measurements in real-time during peak viewing hours, as well as submit a monthly report detailing viewing data; this includes the number of viewers of the broadcast by hour, means of viewing the broadcast, and population segmentation by age, sector, gender, and place of residence.
Proposal unconstitutional, says Levin
In a letter to Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Sunday, ahead of the bill’s approval in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, Deputy Attorney-General for Economic Law Meir Levin wrote that the proposal was unconstitutional.
He said it was “a severe and disproportionate violation of the right to privacy, and within that, the right to freedom of expression and press, a violation stemming from political government involvement in the broadcasting market.”
According to the deputy attorney-general, a chief concern was that while the “panel” of families who currently participate in the measurement system do so voluntarily, the new bill would collect data about household viewing tendencies without their consent.
“The very act of compulsorily collecting information from the entire public, without explicit consent given by each person about whom information is collected, and its systematic transfer to government authorities – broadcast regulators and the Communications Ministry– amounts to a severe violation of the constitutional right to privacy,” the deputy attorney-general wrote.
Rather than the current bill officially proposed by Likud MK Shalom Danino, the deputy attorney-general suggested that a new government bill be brought forward after taking into account and amending it to address these constitutional concerns.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel deemed the bill “scandalous” and a “continuation of the regime coup.”
“The independence of the media is one of the cornerstones of democracy, and the goal of this North Korean-style law by Communications Minister Karhi is to undermine it and to continue the government’s attempts to destroy Israeli democracy,” MQG said.
“It is incomprehensible that while Israeli society is fully mobilized for the war effort, IDF soldiers are sacrificing their lives, and 101 of our sons and daughters are still hostages of Hamas, the government is meddling with the independence of the media.
“We will stand guard and prevent any attempt to harm Israeli democracy and the freedom of the press.”