For the second time in a few months—when it happened on the eve of Gallant's columns—television channels faced a fateful (and political) decision. The protest against the government erupted into the Ayalon Highway spontaneously, and the planned broadcast schedule was about to be canceled, with only Kan 11 doing so when they continued to cover the protest and canceled the broadcast of the episode of the successful series "Main Box Office".
Premium for the fourth season of "Main Jackpot". Written by: Assaf Hadar // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon (Archive)
There is no doubt that blocking a central route by tens of thousands of spontaneous demonstrators is a significant news event, but it is not certain that it is worth an open wave of broadcasts. Last night, channels 11, 12 and 13 extended their news broadcasts by more than half an hour, lifting drones and encouraging more people to join the demonstration.
Big Brother House, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
But just before prime time ended, suddenly they switched to reality TV (unlike Kan 11, as mentioned, which continued to cover the protest), and after a few minutes they returned to reporting on demonstrators being run over, and two moments later they returned to reality TV.
"Dancing with the Stars", photo: Shai Franco
The aspirations of the channels – to function like news channels that set an agenda, and also to be podcast channels that feed on ads and are supposed to provide escapism – collided again, and not for the last time.
Coverage of the protest in the news, all channels
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