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The twenty-fi ve top-rated television shows in Israel by genre among those aired in October 2009. (Data:
Israel Audience Research Board, Tele-Gal, TNS. Chart: Eytan Gilboa. Drawing by Bill Nelson.)
private television and radio companies. The two commercial channels, 2 and 10, are fi nanced
via advertising revenues and regulated by the Second Authority for Television and Radio
(SATR). In 2008, about 75 percent of all multichannel subscribers received digital television
service; this is one of the highest ratios in the world.
In 2005, about 92 percent of Israel's 1.7 million households had televisions, those who did
not consisting mostly of Haredi Jews and Bedouin. Surveys by Israel's National Statistics Bu-
reau found that in 2008 over 50 percent of households owned a DVD player, and 40 percent
owned video equipment.
The fi gure here shows the distribution of top-rated television programs by genre. In 2009,
most viewers preferred to watch news (28 percent), reality TV (20 percent), satire (12 percent),
and comedy (12 percent). This result is not surprising given the rapidly changing events in
