[1] In May 1996, the Ministry of Communications published a tender for a license to operate an Arabic language channel on cable television in Israel.
[4] The Ministry of Communications did not republish a tender for an Arab channel, after in August 1997 the government approved the report of the Yossi Peled Committee, which was established to prepare a proposal for expanding and reorganizing the public television and radio broadcasting system.
The report recommended adopting a new policy to create a free market for electronic communications, which On the principle of "open skies" for all.
[11] In June 2005, the "Anani Communications" company informed the Cable Broadcasting Council that it would not exercise the license it had received because it had not recruited Arab partners, and in light of the lack of economic viability.
Understanding that the communications market has changed over the years and due to the fear that the current tender will also fail, the Cable and Satellite Council under the chairmanship of the council's chairman, Nitzan Chen, decided to significantly ease the conditions of the tender and favor the winner while promising a license that would be valid for ten years.
In the third year, the book states, the franchisee will be required to broadcast eight hours a day, which also include a news bulletin of at least 20 minutes.
[17] At the end of the discussions in the Cable and Satellite Council, it was decided to unanimously approve the only proposal that was submitted and the "Hala TV" company was designated as the winner of the tender for the license to operate the dedicated channel in the Arabic language.
[19] With the winning of the "Hala TV" group, the company announced that the channel would go on air in March 2012, while managing a hectic schedule.
The channel did not make the investment it committed to (approximately NIS 60 million) in the content of an original Israeli work, and the Cable and Satellite Council was supposed to discuss the denial of its license.
The government and members of the Knesset from the right mobilized to help, and during 2017 legislation was passed that changed the regulation on the dedicated channels and actually freed them from almost all the substantial content obligations they had.
As a result, even Hala TV included in this definition received substantial reliefs approved by the legislation, thus actually being saved from closure.
According to surveys by the Government Advertising Bureau, Hala TV is (as of the beginning of the 2020s of the 21st century) the most watched television channel among Israeli Arabs.