Israeli Educational Television

The Israeli Educational Television (also known as IETV, Hebrew: הטלוויזיה החינוכית הישראלית‎, HaŦelevizia HaKhinuchít HaIsraelit) is a state-owned public terrestrial television network which used to concentrate on producing and broadcasting programs for schoolchildren. The first Israeli children's show, featuring Kishkashta, aired on Channel 1 in the 1970s and 1980s. However, since the 1980s IETV began to produce TV magazines and programs aimed at adults and senior citizens.

History

IETV was established in 1965 as a joint project of the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Rothschild Fund. It was the first television station in Israel, and its first broadcast, launched in March 1966, was the first television transmission in Israel. In those days the Israeli government was reluctant to introduce television transmissions claiming it would lead to cultural decadence. However limited broadcasts as an instructional tool were approved.

The first transmission was launched on March 24, 1966. Levi Eshkol, the Israeli prime minister, pressed a symbolic button to mark the beginning of the transmission. Lord Jacob Rothschild delivered a speech on behalf of the Rothschild Fund. The then-called Instructional Television Trust opened its regular transmission with televised broadcasts of Mathematics, Biology and English classes. 60 TV sets were distributed to 32 schools to receive the first broadcasts and comment on their quality. From the early-1970s and until the early-1990s it was known as the "Instructional Television Centre".

Within its first year of existence the IETV expanded its infrastructure, and began to broadcast nationwide. In May 1968 it began to share its channel with the newly established IBA's general public channel. The two organizations would share a single channel for many years to come, the only Israeli TV channel until the late-1980s, when the experimental transmissions of the Israeli Channel 2 started.

IETV programmes are currently broadcast on terrestrial Channel 23, which is also relayed in HOT cable TV and Yes satellite systems, 24 hours a day (midnight - 5am are re-runs). The station also shares airtime on both Channel 1 and 2 terrestrial outlets.

The station has remained an autonomous unit of the Ministry of Education, and currently broadcasts around 215 hours of programming every week.

In the end of 2013, the channel re-branded as The Educational Channel (or Hinuchit, in Hebrew), and now focuses on their new children and educational programming schedule from 5:00am Israel Time, as well as adult educational schedule from 8:00pm Israel Time. The channel also has recently started to upload its shows to their official YouTube channel before they broadcast on TV.

According to a reform in public broadcasting initiated by the government and approved by the Knesset in Summer 2014, the Educational channel will be merged into the a public broadcasting service that will replace IBA Israel Television and Radio services. According to this reform, the new IBA Television Service will have 3 TV channels: a general Hebrew service (that will replace the current IBA Channel 1), an Arabic language channel (until now called Channel 33) and a Children's channel (the current Educational TV).

The new channels are scheduled to start broadcasting in Spring 2016 but it is announced that it will be officially launched on October 1, 2016, whereby the IBA will be replaced by the new Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. However, IETV (Hinuchit) will stay on the air and timeshare its programmes on both Channel 1 and Channel 2 until January 2018. By then, programmes produced by Hinuchit will be fully absorbed and produced by the new broadcaster for Channel 1, in its own right.

External links

• IETV official site

Television in Israel
Multichannel television	Governing bodies Cable and Satellite broadcasting council Broadcasting organizations HOT (HOT's channels) yes (yes's channels) Channels Israel Plus Music 24 Channel 20
Public stations	Governing bodies IBA Government of Israel Ministry of Education Broadcasting channels Channel 1 Channel 33 Knesset Channel IETV
Commercial stations	Governing bodies The Second Authority for Television and Radio Broadcasting channels Channel 2 Keshet Reshet Channel 10