| Arutz HaYeladim | |
| Former Names: | Channel 6 |
| Owner: | NOGA Communications RGE Group |
| Area: | Nationwide |
| Headquarters: | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Website: | Arutz HaYeladim |
| Sister Channels: | FOMO HOT HOT Buzz Knesset Channel Logi Sports Channel Vamos Yoyo |
Arutz HaYeladim (Hebrew: ערוץ הילדים, The Children's Channel; Formerly: Arutz Shesh (ערוץ 6) channel 6) is an Israeli children's cable television channel owned by RGE, through subsidiary NOGA Communications Limited. It was one of the first cable channels in Israel, along with Arutz HaMishapa, Arutz HaSratim and Arutz HaSport. It is aimed for children ages 7–14.
The channel was first launched on November 8, 1989,[1] as a part of Israeli cable's trial broadcasting prior to the 1990 official launch. At first, the channel broadcast only two hours a day, and in its first two years it was based primarily on purchased programs. In 1991, the channel began broadcasting shows with hosts and presenters. These segments grew to bigger live shows over the years, providing a few of the presenters their tickets to stardom. The channel's growing popularity among children also led to many educational campaigns, regarding issues such as safety and tolerance.
In 1996, the channel's content was transferred to the control of the new company "Noga Tikshoret" ("Venus communication"), and the channel updated its contents to more interactive nature while also adding more original programs - a direction that the channel is following to this day.
Oded Menashe, the last of the "original" presenters from the channel's first years, left in 2005 after 14 years; at the time, no presenter had stayed longer at the channel. As of 2012, Menashe's record was surpassed by Tal Mosseri, who joined the channel in 1997 and left in mid-2015 after 18 years as a presenter. Besides Menashe, Mosseri and Kobi Machat, who joined the channel in 2000 and left in early 2012 after 12 years as a presenter, none of the other presenters, past or present, has ever stayed in the channel for more than nine consecutive years.
The channel followed several formats over the years, with hosts and cartoons. Early shows featured Michal Yannai, who was at the beginning of her career as a children's presenter, following in the footsteps of other female hosts like Tzipi Shavit and Rivka Michaeli. The programs became known for its simple and educational format, where Michal sometimes received guests on the show, and also interacted with puppet characters. The program was an audience favourite during the 1990s. This helped to raise Michal's profile, making her popular with children, and with spin-off products that sold almost as well as those of Ha-Comedy Store. After Einat Erlich left the channel to work at Channel 2 in 1995, After 1996, more hosts were used, including Nimrod Reshef; better known as Nimi Nim and Erez Ben Harush.
The channel aired clips from various animation departments over the years, including Hasbro, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, DIC Entertainment and Mattel, as well as some anime.
In 2010, Cartoon Network became a television block on the channel appearing weekdays 11AM to 2PM, showing kids' shows from the channel dubbed in Hebrew. This happened because Cartoon Network's pan-European version was no longer available in Israel, having been removed years before the block's launch. The block was ended in 2019, when yes bought the rights of the shows.