Fox vs. NBC Fight Heads to Holy Land

Image by Haaretz

By Anne Cohen May 12, 2014

Breaking news: Fox is mad at NBC. Again.

This time, the network has taken the fight to the Holy Land, calling Israel a “third-world country without clear regulations,” because the country’s willingness to fund NBC projects over Fox ones.

According to Haaretz, NBC will receive up to 22 million shekels ($6.4 million) in funding from various government agencies,while the Fox’s funding request was turned down. So obviously, rule of law must have broken down completely.

NBC is scheduled to start shooting “Dig,” a six-part series about an FBI agent investigating the murder of an archeologist (the idea came from Keshet CEO Avi Nir), in Jerusalem in the coming months.

Fox is currently filming “Tyrant,” a series about the life of an Arab dictator written in cooperation with Homeland creator Gideon Raff. Though the pilot was filmed in Morocco, the set was moved to agricultural land near Kfar Sava. According to Haaretz, production costs on “Tyrant” are estimated at $30 million, with about 1,300 people providing services on and off-set.

Which one is better for Israel’s image, archeological thriller or Arab despot? Apparently, Fox thinks the latter.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO