OnTen ( fa, آنتن) was an award-winning hit satirical news show that tackled domestic and international political and social issues. In a 30-minute weekly show, OnTen explored the headlines and the stories behind the headlines with cutting-edge production techniques, exclusive interviews, and witty analysis. OnTen was broadcast by satellite into Iran by the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

’s Persian Service, which at the time claimed that it reached 21 percent of Iranians each week. The show title, a play on words, means antenna in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and is also a slang term for "spy." The show was the intellectual successor to

Parazit Parazit ( fa, پارازیت, ', meaning "static") was a weekly half-hour Persian-language satirical television show broadcast on Voice of America's Persian service. The show poked fun at Iranian politics. Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi, Iranian ...

, which was co-created by OnTen’s executive producer,

Saman Arbabi Saman Arbabi ( fa, سامان اربابی; born 1973) is an Iranian-American journalist, video director, cartoonist, host, creator, and executive producer of Voice of America's satirical television shows '' Parazit'' and '' OnTen''. His work has b ...

. The show’s second season was hosted by Iranian underground rock musician

Arash Sobhani Arash Sobhani ( fa, آرش سبحانی; born 3 January 1971 in Tehran) is an Iranian musician and television host. He is the lead singer and guitarist of underground rock band Kiosk and the host of ''OnTen'', a satirical news program that airs on ...

, who is also the founder and leader of the popular band,

Kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist i ...

Masih Alinejad Masih Alinejad ( fa, مسیح علی‌نژاد, born Masoumeh Alinejad-Ghomikolayi ( fa, معصومه علی‌نژاد قمی کُلایی), September 11, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist. Alinejad cu ...

, an Iranian journalist known for her ability to get Iranian officials to speak with her reported for the show from London. Rounding out the cast was

, who, during the first season also acted as the show's host and

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August ...

-style fake news anchor. In an election-day special Archived a
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and th
Wayback Machine
broadcast on June 14, 2013, OnTen featured a segment on street artist JR's

Inside Out Project Inside Out is a global participatory art project initiated by the French photographer JR (artist), JR. After winning the TED Prize, TED prize in 2011, JR expressed his wish to "change the world" by turning it "inside out". With the $100,000 from ...

and aired a special message to the Iranian people from U2's

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...

External links

OnTen's YouTube Videos

OnTen's Facebook Page

OnTen's Election Special

OnTen's Instagram

OnTen's Twitter Feed

References

{{Reflist American news parodies