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Television in Israel refers to television broadcasting services in the State of Israel, inaugurated on March 24, 1966. Initially, there was one state-owned channel. In 1986, a second state-regulated channel was launched. This channel became a state-regulated commercial channel in 1993. An additional commercial channel was introduced in 2002, followed by the introduction of two commercial niche channels: an Israel Russian-speaking channel (in 2002) and a channel of Israeli popular music (in 2003). Colour transmissions were introduced gradually around 1980. Illegal cable channels became popular during the 1980s until the introduction of regulated cable multichannel service in 1989. Satellite-based multichannel service has been available since 2000.

Channel One

Television in Israel was introduced in 1966 with the first transmission of the Israeli Educational Television intended to be received by 32 schools, in attempt to use television as an instructional tool. ^[1] The Israeli Broadcasting Authority launched regular public transmissions on 2 May 1968, on the occasion of Israeli Independence Day. Until 1986 Israel had only one television channel shared by IETV and IBA. Experimental transmissions on a second channel started in October 1986 and expanded gradually.

Colour transmissions

Israeli television started to operate when American and European stations started to switch to full-scale colour transmissions. Nevertheless, the new state-controlled Israeli stations were equipped with black and white facilities as they were cheaper, and as colour productions were deemed unnecessary. During the mid-seventies black and white equipment became rare, so any damaged piece of equipment (VCRs, telecines etc.) had to be replaced with a colour-enabled facility. While newscasts and other regular productions were filmed using black and white cameras, many special productions ordered from private modernly equipped Israeli studios (in particular the Herzliya Studios) were filmed and taped in full colour. Furthermore, the Israeli television used to buy many TV series and movies from American and British TV stations (broadcast with Hebrew-Arabic subtitles). The result was a mixture of colour and black and white broadcasts, which encouraged traders to import colour TV sets, especially as TV stations in neighbouring Jordan and Egypt started colour transmissions in 1974.

The mekhikon

The Israeli government frowned upon the increasing import of colour TV sets, which it considered a threat to Israeli economic stability and an improper pursuit of luxury which increases social gaps. The government therefore ordered IBA and IETV to broadcast entirely in black and white and erase the colour from any colour-taped telecast. Technically, this was done by erasing the "burst phase" signal which triggered the "colour killer" mechanism in colour TV sets. This method was named mekhikon (מחיקון "eraser"), and soon after its introduction, special TV sets with an anti-mekhikon (אנטי-מחיקון "anti-eraser") device were offered. This device reinstalled the burst phase signal according to several known standards (the client had to turn a switch until natural colours appeared on the screen). Furthermore, in November 1977 the IBA had to cover live and in full colour the historical visit of the Egyptian president, Anwar El Sadat, to Israel, as this transmission was sent via satellite to stations around the world. In March 1979 the IBA hosted the annual Eurovision Song Contest, and once again had to send the transmission live and in full colour without any interruption. Eventually, the mekhikon idea was proven to be futile, and the Israeli television stopped using it in 1980, allowing colour transmissions to be received freely. In 1981 as the Israeli government sought to increase its popularity in light of the approaching general elections, IBA and IETV were allowed to start filming their own regular productions in colour. This process took more than two years and was completed on 16 February 1983 when the main newscast was broadcast in colour for the first time.

Channel Two

In 1978 the Israeli government appointed a special committee to explore the establishment of a second channel that would not be under the IBA supervision and would be financed by advertising, however the idea of commercial television was rejected by some parties in the ruling coalition. In 7 October 1986, the Israeli minister of Communication ordered the beginning of "experimental transmissions" on a second channel, claiming that unless these transmissions had started, the frequencies would have been used by TV networks in neighbouring countries. These transmissions, which initially included 2–3 hours of video clips every evening, expanded gradually to include a full program lineup. At this stage the IBA was legally responsible for the channel, but in fact it saw it as an unexpected competition, tried to prevent its inauguration, and was reluctant to take responsibility for its broadcasts. In 1986 the Knesset started discussing the law forming the Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority, which was finally approved in 1990. This new body took responsibility for the second channel from this year onwards. From 1990 to 1993 the Second Broadcasting Authority reviewed bids from commercial companies to establish the regular commercial broadcasts of the second channel, which started on 4 November 1993. The second channel was officially handed to three concessionaires, starting the first commercial broadcasts in Israel. Pirated television broadcasts via cables became very popular in the major cities of Israel during the late 80s. These were usually local cable television stations broadcasting illegally from private houses to subscribers, mainly films released on video tapes. These local stations vanished with the introduction of regulated cable television in 1989.

Languages

Israeli television broadcasts mainly in Hebrew and English. While Hebrew is the common language of communication, numerous shows and series of different genres are bought from English-speaking countries. Unless the target audience is preschool children, subtitle translation is preferred over dubbing, not only for economic considerations. Subtitle translation is often bilingual, the secondary language being either Arabic or Russian. The state-owned Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has an Arabic department which broadcasts news, talk shows, educational programs for children and Egyptian films on IBA's satellite channel (Channel 33). IBA's English department broadcasts a daily locally produced newscast. Commercial channels are obligated to broadcast a portion of their programs in Arabic and Russian, or alternatively translate programs into these languages. There is also a legal obligation on all channels to translate some of their newscasts into the Israeli Sign Language^[2].

In 2002, an Israeli Russian-speaking commercial channel was launched, named Israel Plus. A similar Arabic-speaking channel was also planned, but the bid for establishing such a channel failed. The bid has been modified and republished in April 2010^[3]

State-managed stations

Channel 1
Channel 33
Israeli Educational Television (Channel 23, also broadcasts on Channel 1 and Channel 2).

Public-commercial stations

Channel 2
Channel 10
Knesset Channel
Music 24 (Israeli music and video clips)
Israel Plus
Israel Plus International

Shopping Channel
Ego
Ego Total
BBC Entertainment Israel (formerly BBC Prime)
MTV Israel
Nickelodeon Israel
Disney Channel Israel

Exclusive channels

The following channels are exclusive to the respective cable or DBS company

Hot
- Hot 3
- Hot Drama
- Hot Action
- Hot Gold
- Hot Fun
- Hot Movies
- Hot Kids
- Hot Prime
- Hot Bollywood
- Hot Bombay
- Xtra Hot
- Hot Israeli Entertainment
- Bip
- Channel 8
- Nat Geo Wild Israel
- Karma
- House and Family
- Hot Music

Yes (Satellite)
- Yes 1
- Yes 2
- Yes 3
- Yes 4
- Yes Baby
- Yes Baby +
- Yes Docu
- Yes India
- Yes Junior
- Yes Sababa
- Yes Stars
- Yes Stars Drama
- Yes Stars Action
- Yes Stars Comedy
- Yes Stars Base
- Yes Stars Israeli
- Yes Stars HD
- Biography Channel Israel

Defunct channels

References

^ "Good Evening from Jerusalem", Yossi Nahmias recaps the birth of Israeli television, Ynet, 29 April 2008
^ Elaborated overview of the subject can be found in: Weissbrod, Rachel (2010). "Translation Studies and mass media research", in: Gile, Daniel, Gyde Hansen and Nike K. Pokorn (ed.), Why Translation Studies Matters?, John Benjamins Publishing Co., Amsterdam/Philadelphia.
^ "The Arabic channel bid is launched - this time with significant alleviations", Ofir Bar-Zohar, The Marker, 15 April 2010 (in Hebrew).

[1] "Good Evening from Jerusalem", Yossi Nahmias recaps the birth of Israeli television, Ynet, 29 April 2008

[2] Elaborated overview of the subject can be found in: Weissbrod, Rachel (2010). "Translation Studies and mass media research", in: Gile, Daniel, Gyde Hansen and Nike K. Pokorn (ed.), Why Translation Studies Matters?, John Benjamins Publishing Co., Amsterdam/Philadelphia.

[3] "The Arabic channel bid is launched - this time with significant alleviations", Ofir Bar-Zohar, The Marker, 15 April 2010 (in Hebrew).

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[2]

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@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ==Channel Two==
-Israel had only one TV channel, shared by the state-owned IBA and IETV, for almost two decades; however during that time there was a constant debate about the possibility of creating a second channel. In 1978 the Israeli government appointed a special committee to understand the issue, which advised to launch a second channel which would not be under the IBA supervision and would be financed by advertising, however  the idea of commercial television was rejected by some parties in the ruling coalition. In 7 October 1986, the Israeli minister of Communication ordered the beginning of "experimental transmissions" on a second channel, claiming that unless these transmissions had started, the frequencies would have been used by TV networks in neighbouring countries. These transmissions, which initially included 2–3 hours of video clips every evening, expanded gradually to include a full program lineup. At this stage the IBA was legally responsible for the channel, but in fact it saw it as an unexpected competition, tried to prevent its inauguration, and was reluctant to take responsibility for its broadcasts. In 1986 the Knesset started discussing the law forming the [[Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority]], which was finally approved in 1990. This new body took responsibility for the second channel from this year onwards. From 1990 to 1993 the Second Broadcasting Authority reviewed bids from commercial companies to establish the regular commercial broadcasts of the second channel, which started on 4 November 1993.
+In 1978 the Israeli government appointed a special committee to explore the establishment of a second channel that would not be under the IBA supervision and would be financed by advertising, however  the idea of commercial television was rejected by some parties in the ruling coalition. In 7 October 1986, the Israeli minister of Communication ordered the beginning of "experimental transmissions" on a second channel, claiming that unless these transmissions had started, the frequencies would have been used by TV networks in neighbouring countries. These transmissions, which initially included 2–3 hours of video clips every evening, expanded gradually to include a full program lineup. At this stage the IBA was legally responsible for the channel, but in fact it saw it as an unexpected competition, tried to prevent its inauguration, and was reluctant to take responsibility for its broadcasts. In 1986 the Knesset started discussing the law forming the [[Second Israeli Broadcasting Authority]], which was finally approved in 1990. This new body took responsibility for the second channel from this year onwards. From 1990 to 1993 the Second Broadcasting Authority reviewed bids from commercial companies to establish the regular commercial broadcasts of the second channel, which started on 4 November 1993. The second channel was officially handed to three concessionaires, starting the first commercial broadcasts in Israel. Pirated television broadcasts via cables became very popular in the major cities of Israel during the late 80s. These were usually local cable television stations broadcasting illegally from private houses to subscribers, mainly films released on video tapes. These local stations vanished with the introduction of regulated cable television in 1989.
 ==Languages==