i24NEWS begins broadcasting in Israel

i24NEWS, the Israel-based international news channel, finally began broadcasting on Wednesday in its home country. The network, owned by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi, announced Wednesday morning that it hit the airwaves that very same day on the HOT cable provider. i24NEWS was founded in 2013 and offers 24-hour news broadcasts in French, Arabic and English . “I am excited to announce that, starting today, and after five years of expectation, we are available in Israel!” said the company's CEO, Frank Melloul, at a press conference on Wednesday. “I made aliyah with my family to build i24NEWS, with a vision to launch a channel that will present to the world what is happening in Israel and the Middle East in a balanced and fair manner.” The network's English broadcasts will air on HOT 34 and 200, while its French channel will hit HOT 144 and the Arabic channel will soon arrive on HOT 174. The company's news programming is also broadcast globally online, and on TV providers in the United States, across much of Europe and in several African countries. Melloul said Wednesday that i24NEWS is in talks with Israel's other television providers to explore additional platforms for the network. He added that the next step for the company will be to begin broadcasting in Hebrew as well. “It is time to start talking about a fourth i24NEWS channel – in Hebrew,” Melloul said on Wednesday. “It is our natural next step.” While i24NEWS expressed a desire for years to also broadcast in Israel, it only recently received approval from the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council. Israeli TV currently has four Hebrew prime-time news broadcasts: the public KAN 11, the Channel 2 News Company, Channel Ten News and Channel 20. “This morning we launched a new news channel in Israel,” said Communications Minister Ayoub Kara on Wednesday. “This channel, which broadcasts in English, French and Arabic, shows the beautiful face of the State of Israel and news from the Middle East in a balanced and positive way.... It's an answer to the extreme channel Al Jazeera, which incites and serves terrorism.”

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