Programs Broadcast by Channel 1 (Israel)

Channel 1 combined news and current affairs with dramas, comedies, talk shows, variety programs, documentaries, sports, films, and children's programming. Approximately 70% of its output was locally produced, and its predominantly Hebrew schedule included Arabic- and English-language broadcasts in the early evening.[5]

A surviving schedule from March 28, 1996, illustrates the breadth of a typical broadcast day, which included morning programming, children's and cultural shows, Arabic and English news, documentaries, current affairs, and a late-night news magazine.[6]

Israel's first general-interest television network began broadcasting on May 2, 1968, at 9:30 a.m., with an opening sequence showing a menorah and an aerial view of Jerusalem; at 9:40 a.m., it broadcast the national Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day) parade.[1][2] The network was initially known as Israel Television or General Television, distinguishing it from the Education Ministry's Israel Educational Television.[1] It was operated by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, established by a 1965 law and funded mainly through television-set license fees.[5][2]

The network became known as Channel 1 in 1994, after commercial competitor Channel 2 began regular broadcasting in November 1993.[1][2] The transition to color was gradual: official color transmissions began in 1981, while another account places the completion of the transition in 1983. Special events, including Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's 1977 visit, had been shown in color earlier.[1][7][2]

Israel declined to host the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest because funds were instead allocated to converting the television service to color.[1]

Channel 1 maintained separate departments for Hebrew news and current affairs, Arabic news and current affairs, and Arabic-language entertainment. The Israel Broadcasting Authority sought to build an Arabic schedule capable of attracting Israeli Arab viewers who could also receive broadcasts from Egypt and Jordan.[1]

The channel devoted approximately one and a half hours of each evening to Arabic-language programming, alongside news, original productions, children's programs, entertainment, and films.[8] Educational Television occupied part of the daytime schedule, while Arabic- and English-language programs generally appeared during the early evening.[5]

Mabat (also referred to as Mabat LaHadashot, meaning "A Look at the News") was Channel 1's flagship evening news program and had been broadcast since 1968.[7][4] Anchored for roughly 40 years by Haim Yavin — known as "Mr. Television" — the program aired at 9 p.m. and achieved ratings of nearly 90% in the 1970s.[4] During the one-channel era, its cultural weight was such that placing telephone calls while it was on the air was considered improper.[7]

In later years, Channel 1's news schedule included a major evening newscast at 8 p.m., breakfast news, and a late-night bulletin, having originally offered only one television news program per day.[9] Hamusaf was an early-evening news program anchored by Geula Even-Sa'ar.[10] Yoman was a Friday-night current-affairs program; Geula Even was described as its presenter as of 2008, alongside her duties on the early-evening news show.[11] The English News began during the Gulf War in a prime-time slot before settling into a 5 p.m. broadcast. Its presenters included Steve Edwards, Len Brewer, Larry Price, Leah Zinder, David Essing, and others.[12]

An archived Jerusalem Post television listing from March 28, 1996, identifies additional Channel 1 broadcasts for that day, including "News in Arabic," "News in English," "Good Morning Israel," "A New Evening," "Every Evening with Merav Michael!", and a late-evening news magazine.[6]

Moked (meaning "Focus") was a weekly political interview program broadcast during the period when Channel 1 was Israel's only television channel.[3] The subjects discussed on the program became important topics in national discourse, and a high percentage of the public watched it regularly.[3]

PoPolitika was a Channel 1 current-affairs talk show whose format combined political discussion with entertainment segments featuring Israeli performers.[3] Kolbotek (later spelled Kolbodek) was an investigative consumer-affairs program launched in December 1974 with Daniel Pe'er as its original anchor and Rafi Ginat as its producer. Ginat later became the program's presenter and took it with him when he departed Channel 1.[13] The program was described as the longest-running adult program in Israeli television history.[13]

According to a Jerusalem Post column, Mabat Sheni included a nostalgia segment exploring the history of the Kol Yisrael studios in Tel Aviv's Sarona neighborhood, featuring veteran actress and broadcaster Rivka Michaeli.[14] The same column described Kach Haya ("The Way It Was") as a Channel 1 nostalgia program hosted by Yigal Ravid and said that a 2015 episode was scheduled to feature Rafik Halabi, mayor of Daliat al-Carmel and a former journalist who had been the first Druze community member employed in Hebrew-language television.[14]

The Forsyte Saga, a dramatic series produced by the BBC, was broadcast during the first years of Israeli television and became so popular that social and public events were scheduled so as not to conflict with new episodes.[3] By 1987, Israel's single-channel schedule also included American reruns with Hebrew subtitles.[15]

Lul (meaning "Chicken Coop") was a low-budget sketch-comedy program that ran from 1970 to 1972, one of the few forms of locally produced television beyond news during that era.[7] It featured prominent Israeli musicians and movie actors and attracted a substantial audience during the one-channel period.[7]

Hayehudim Ba'im ("The Jews Are Coming") was a satirical series broadcast on Channel 1 from November 2014 to January 2015. The program was a major hit, and sketches from its final episode received 1.25 million combined views on YouTube and Facebook.[16] Following its success, the Israel Broadcasting Authority decided to produce a second 15-part series scheduled to begin in January 2016.[16]

Pillars of Fire, a 19-part documentary series presenting a visual history of Zionism and the establishment of Israel, was originally broadcast on Israel Television in 1981.[17]

Sami and Susu was a weekly children's program included in Israel Television's first Arabic-language transmissions.[3] It became sufficiently popular among Jewish children that Hebrew subtitles were added to accommodate the large number of Jewish viewers who watched it.[3]

Educational Television programming was carried on Channel 1 during the day, including a Hebrew-language version of Sesame Street, which was also carried by commercial broadcast and cable television.[5] A December 1987 publication identifies Hopa Hey as a children's television show featuring guest artists, although it discusses the program within the broader Israeli television environment rather than explicitly identifying Channel 1 as its broadcaster.[15]

Channel 1's cultural influence derived partly from its long period as Israel's sole general-interest television channel. More than 60% of Israelis reportedly watched Mabat each evening during part of the one-channel era, while the subjects discussed on Mabat and Moked became prominent in national conversation.[3]

The channel's reach extended beyond news. Public events were arranged around episodes of The Forsyte Saga, Sami and Susu crossed linguistic audiences, and locally produced programs such as Lul gave prominent Israeli performers access to a national audience.[7][3]

Television's introduction into Israel was preceded by disputes over its social and cultural effects. David Ben-Gurion opposed the medium in part because he feared it would encourage materialism, while Orthodox groups objected to programs they considered immodest and to broadcasting on the Sabbath.[3] The Israel Broadcasting Authority ultimately continued Friday-evening broadcasts with the backing of the Supreme Court.[3][2]

Programming and technical policies also reflected state priorities. Early Arabic broadcasts were intended to counter hostile regional propaganda and reach viewers in Israel and neighboring countries, while the costly shift to color was prioritized over hosting the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest.[1][3]

Channel 1's news operation ended abruptly on May 9, 2017, when Mabat aired its final episode shortly before 8 p.m.[18] During the final edition of Hamusaf, anchor Geula Even-Sa'ar was informed while on air, with about two hours' notice, that her broadcast was the program's last and that Mabat would also end that evening.[10] The English News ceased as part of the same closure process.[12]

The channel remained on air for limited programming until May 14, when its final transmission was the 62nd Eurovision Song Contest.[19] Immediately afterward, it aired a retrospective music video and rebroadcast the final moments of Mabat, whose staff had sung Hatikvah. The station then displayed a still image reading, "Our broadcast has ended. 1968–2017."[19]