| Channel 14 | |
| Picture Format: | HDTV 720p |
| Owner: | Jewish Israeli Channel Ltd |
| Country: | Israel & International |
| Language: | Hebrew |
| Area: | National &International |
| Former Names: | Heritage Channel Channel 20 |
| Replaced: | Big Brother Live |
| Terr Serv 1: | Digital |
| Terr Chan 1: | Channel 14 |
| Online Serv 1: | Official website |
| Online Chan 1: | Live stream |
Now 14 (Hebrew: עכשיו 14), colloquially referred to as Channel 14, is an Israeli right-wing and conservative commercial television channel and news site. The channel broadcasts news, political commentary, satire and talk shows, all of which are presented from a right-wing perspective. The controlling shareholder of the channel is Yitzchak Mirilashvili.[1]
Channel 20 started broadcasting on 30 June 2014.
In 2021, it was announced that Channel 20 will be rebranded to Now 14 (Hebrew: עכשיו 14) and subsequently moved to the 14th slot on TV receivers, right after Reshet 13. The move happened on 28 November that year.
The channel moved studios a couple times, and their most recent move was on the 28th of November 2021, when they moved to their current studio in Modi'in.
The channel primarily features news programming and, occasionally, religious programming, though the quantity of religious programs has been on a decline as the channel shifted to a more news-oriented approach over the years.
The most popular show on the channel is The Patriots, which features a panel of journalists and other activists discussing issues in the world, as well as commenting on social media posts from various people, and everyone is given a limited time to give an opinion. When the time is over, a buzzer is activated.
Now 14's main news show is broadcast at 19:30 Israel time since 28 November 2021, unlike the other big three channels which broadcast their main news show at around 20:00.
Channel 14 is often defined as politically biased towards the Israeli right-wing and far-right[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and is often favourable towards Benjamin Netanyahu.[7] Knesset members from the Likud recommended watching Channel 14 because "it is a right-wing channel that appeals to a right-wing audience".[8]
The channel caused much controversy in Israel over the years. In the first years of its existence, the channel excluded Reform and Conservative Jewish religious movements from the channel's broadcasts.[9] The channel was sued for a sum of several hundred thousand shekels for breaking the Israeli law: Prohibition of Discrimination in Products, Services and Entry into Places of Entertainment and Public Places Law, 2000.[10]
On November 11, 2018, the channel aired an interview with Yitzhak Gabbai, who was convicted of setting fire to a bilingual school in Jerusalem and served three years in prison. The interview received condemnations from the many figuries in the Israeli public, and as a result the channel itself and the interviewer Boaz Golan apologized for the incident.[11] Following the interview, the Second Authority for Television and Radio started a violation procedure against the channel.[12]
On May 2021, Following a rocket attack in northern Israel, the reporter Kobi Finkler said on live: "One (missile) fell on a soccer field in a large Arab settlement and very unfortunately it did not result in mass casualties there". In response, he was fired by the channel.[13]
On May 30, 2022, the printed magazine of "Now 14" published an article entitled "LGBT
On February 21, 2023, during the 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests, channel commentator Ari Shamai said on the program "The Patriots" that "these people (protestors) (...) are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Belial (Devil of the Hebrew Bible), who refused to fight against the Nazis in Warsaw Ghetto." On the following days, he was suspended from participating in the program.[16] Later on, Uri Shamai called for the release of the Jewish terrorist Yigal Amir who led to the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.[17] On the following days, Israeli protest movements arose calling to stop advertising on the channel.[18]
During the Israel-Hamas war, the channel published a number of articles that turned out to be incorrect.[19]
In 2024, some of the channel members suggested that Israel should disregard claims that it is contravening international law, especially in the field of military conduct in wartime, and should stop letting the United States push it around on issues on which the two states disagree.
The Logically Facts fact-checking site reported in 2024 that,
According to The Times of Israel, the "incendiary right-wing" news broadcaster Channel 14 was a "largely dismissed bit player in the media industry" until its viewership grew exponentially in 2023, which sparked concern due to its "repeated scandals" and charges of "pro-Netanyahu propaganda." The channel has been described as "the Israeli answer to Fox News" by Ayala Panievsky, a research fellow at Cambridge University and City University of London specializing in right-wing populism, who, in a 2023 opinion piece in the Israeli news outlet Haaretz, wrote that Channel 14 is "propagandistic."[20]