Israel's new "Judaism" TV channel - Techelet (Hebrew for azure) - is set to begin broadcasting this week. Arutz-7's Kobi Sela spoke yesterday with owner Shlomo Ben-Tzvi and programming director Uri Orbach at a press conference launching the new Jewish-traditional cable channel. "We're not trying to convert people," they insist. "It is a commercial venture, to be available by satellite and digital cable, for between 5 and 24 shekels a month, depending on the package. We understand that people want this type of programming, and are willing to pay for it."
The bosses produced statistics showing that 62% of the family viewing audience says that Israeli TV does not have enough Jewish content. Programming director Uri Orbach, author of teenage books with Jewish themes and co-host of a radio show on Army Radio, will try to fill that void. "We haven't set a red line for what programs we will not accept," he told Sela with tongue in cheek, "but when we see one, we'll immediately recognize it."
The schedule, which will be commercial-free, will include programs on children's topics, holidays and Jewish events, Jewish places around the world, dynamic Torah lectures, satire, girls' programs, and more. Techelet will appear on channel 19 on the YES cable network in Israel.
Shlomo Ben-Tzvi, managing director and largest share-holder of Techelet, said, "Everything has a channel: sports, shopping, news, etc. Finally, we have a channel for that which is most important to us - Judaism. Shehecheyanu [Blessed is He that we have reached this point]!" Ben-Tzvi's media group has also purchased the right-wing weekly Makor Rishon newspaper, is negotiating for the purchase of the religious-Zionist HaTzofeh newspaper, and is putting in a bid for a regional radio station in the Tel Aviv area.
In a related story, the much-touted Channel Ten, Israel's second commercial channel, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Yossi Miman, who bankrolled the project to the tune of 300 million dollars, said that "too much government regulation" is what did him in. Prof. Zohar Shavit, former member of the Second Channel Board and professor for Culture Research, disagrees.
Speaking with Arutz-7 today, she first explained the "regulation" to which Miman was referring:
"The Second Channel Authority does not determine or intervene in the the content of the broadcasts, but does lay down guidelines for the broadcasts. For instance, there is an obligation to air a certain amount of original Israeli productions, a certain amount of news, and the like. This is legitimate, because this public resource of television is potentially very profitable, and therefore there must be a certain minimum obligation towards the public."
Prof. Zohar said that Channel Ten's problem was that the Authority did not enforce the guidelines strongly enough, and did not step in even when it was clear that the station was airing low-quality broadcasts and shows:
"We said originally, when we granted the license, that in order to succeed, Channel Ten would have to be both different and higher-quality - i.e., appeal to the more educated strata of society - than Channel Two. And it clearly did not do so - and that's why it failed."
The bosses produced statistics showing that 62% of the family viewing audience says that Israeli TV does not have enough Jewish content. Programming director Uri Orbach, author of teenage books with Jewish themes and co-host of a radio show on Army Radio, will try to fill that void. "We haven't set a red line for what programs we will not accept," he told Sela with tongue in cheek, "but when we see one, we'll immediately recognize it."
The schedule, which will be commercial-free, will include programs on children's topics, holidays and Jewish events, Jewish places around the world, dynamic Torah lectures, satire, girls' programs, and more. Techelet will appear on channel 19 on the YES cable network in Israel.
Shlomo Ben-Tzvi, managing director and largest share-holder of Techelet, said, "Everything has a channel: sports, shopping, news, etc. Finally, we have a channel for that which is most important to us - Judaism. Shehecheyanu [Blessed is He that we have reached this point]!" Ben-Tzvi's media group has also purchased the right-wing weekly Makor Rishon newspaper, is negotiating for the purchase of the religious-Zionist HaTzofeh newspaper, and is putting in a bid for a regional radio station in the Tel Aviv area.
In a related story, the much-touted Channel Ten, Israel's second commercial channel, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Yossi Miman, who bankrolled the project to the tune of 300 million dollars, said that "too much government regulation" is what did him in. Prof. Zohar Shavit, former member of the Second Channel Board and professor for Culture Research, disagrees.
Speaking with Arutz-7 today, she first explained the "regulation" to which Miman was referring:
"The Second Channel Authority does not determine or intervene in the the content of the broadcasts, but does lay down guidelines for the broadcasts. For instance, there is an obligation to air a certain amount of original Israeli productions, a certain amount of news, and the like. This is legitimate, because this public resource of television is potentially very profitable, and therefore there must be a certain minimum obligation towards the public."
Prof. Zohar said that Channel Ten's problem was that the Authority did not enforce the guidelines strongly enough, and did not step in even when it was clear that the station was airing low-quality broadcasts and shows:
"We said originally, when we granted the license, that in order to succeed, Channel Ten would have to be both different and higher-quality - i.e., appeal to the more educated strata of society - than Channel Two. And it clearly did not do so - and that's why it failed."