The cast of Game of Thrones. Season six of the HBO series began this week. Photo: HBO.

JNS.org – Last night, like likely many others, I sat gaping at the eerie surprise at the end of “The Red Woman,” the first episode of the sixth season of HBO‘s Game of Thrones. I then proceeded to check out the invariable hilarious memes that ensued all over Twitter. Not to worry, I plan no further spoilers here.

In the US, the show came back to strong viewership, ranking No. 6 in total viewers and No. 2 in young adults. According to TorrentFreak, which catalogs piracy online, more than 200,000 people shared pirated copies of the latest episode after it aired.

But did you know that in Israel, where the show is also very popular, a whole channel has been dedicated entirely to the popular fantasy series?

The Israeli Yes television network dedicated a special channel to Game of Thrones, which launched April 3 and operated until the first episode of season 6 aired on Sunday. The temporary channel aired episodes from previous seasons, behind-the-scenes videos, and interviews with cast and crew members. The channel also included commercials for show-related products, a family tree outlining the relationships between the various characters, and more.

This marked the first time in Israel that a whole channel was dedicated to only one show.

Fans of other shows might disagree, but this is the only show that I can think of that is “kingly” (pun intended) enough to deserve its own channel.

Meanwhile, audiences in Israel are likely anxiously waiting for glimpses of Israeli actors Ania Bukstein and Yousef Sweid, who are confirmed to be participating in the latest season of Game of Thrones. The actors appear in the trailer below, which was released earlier this month. Bukstein appears at 0:55 and Sweid is seen standing in a crowd at 0:13.