Jewish Television Network

When it began in 1981, Jewish Television Network (JTN) was ahead of its time as the first significant attempt to use the medium of television as an outreach vehicle. Today, its mission has evolved beyond “outreach” as it has become an organization that “creates, produces and distributes a meaningful reflection of the richness and diversity of the Jewish people” for Jews and non-Jews alike, and it continues to adapt new media to convey Jewish values, culture and tradition. 

JTN’s television programs offer a “safe and private space in a person’s home,” an easily accessible way for many unaffiliated Jews to experience Jewish life. Last year, JTN’s program on Chanukah aired Christmas Day on PBS. Nielsen ratings calculated that the show reached 5 million households, perhaps 12 million people in total, and was the number one watched children’s television show that day. Next in the pipeline is Jewish America, a six-hour primetime series to be released on PBS in January 2008. 

In addition to TV, this year JTN launched a live streaming broadband website offering network-quality Internet programming. In line with popular culture trends, and led by an extraordinary group of media executives from Sony, CBS Entertainment, 20th Century Fox and Liquidnet, JTN has the potential to be the “Jewish YouTube.”