Election infomercials aired on Israeli television stations have dropped sharply in popularity, surveys show. Less than 20% of Israelis opted to view the start of the airing of the infomercials this week, as compared to two years ago, when that number was almost doubled. State-run Channel 1 showed the highest viewer audience on the first night: 11.9%. The infomercials are pre-election ads, aired both on TV and radio, promoting the platforms of the parties running in the election race for the 16th Knesset. These ads are the only election propaganda allowed to air in the weeks preceding the election, and are allotted in accordance with the size of the parties.