Future Television ( ar, تلفزيون المستقبل, ''Televiziyon al-Mustaqbal'') was a Lebanese

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

television station founded in 1993 by the

Future Movement The Future Movement ( ar, تيار المستقبل) is a Lebanese political party affiliated with the Sunni sect. The party was founded as a coalition in 1995 led by Rafic Hariri but was officially founded in 2007. The party is led by Saad Harir ...

leader

Rafik Hariri Rafik is the given name of: *Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon *Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National *Rafik Deg ...

, a former

Prime Minister of Lebanon The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent o ...

. Future TV was also available via satellite in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Politically, the channel supported the views of the

. The channel also had a sister channel,

Future News Future News was a 24-hour news channel in Lebanon, covering local and international news. It was a sister channel of Future Television. Its motto was "Right to know". Future News broadcast from Hamra, Beirut with its studios located on Kantari s ...

, which is also defunct.

History

Future Television was a Lebanese owned and operated company founded in 1993. First launched in Lebanon on February 15, 1993, Future Television, although the youngest of the Lebanese stations back then, became the nation's fastest growing station. In October 1994, Future Television started a trial satellite broadcasting over the footprint of

Arabsat The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and ...

1D. The testing period lasted two months. Shortly after, Future International was launched on the Arabsat 2A transponder. In 1996, in compliance with the new Lebanese audio visual law, Future Television restructured its ownership. Future Television presently has around 90 new shareholders, all from the Lebanese business, social and media elite. Future Television was forced into closing on May 9, during the

2008 Lebanon conflict The 2008 Lebanon conflict (Or the 7 May 2008 clashes, Arabic: أحداث 7 أيار) was a brief intrastate military conflict in May 2008 in Lebanon between opposition militias (mainly Shiite Hezbollah) and pro-government Sunnis, after the 18-m ...

. After moving its broadcasting headquarters, the station was back on the air on May 13 at 4:30 p.m (Lebanese Local Time). On May 16, the station went back to its original offices. In September 2019, Lebanese Prime Minister

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 t ...

announced the suspension of work at his Future TV satellite television channel after 26 years of broadcasting, citing financial reasons for halting operations. In a statement issued September 18 by his media office, Hariri said: “It is with a heavy heart that I announce today the decision to suspend work at Future TV and settle workers’ wages for the same financial reasons that led to the closing of Al-Mustaqbal newspaper. The decision was not an easy one for me or for the men and women of the Future Movement nor is it for the generation of the founding personnel and the millions of Lebanese and Arab viewers of Future TV who had stayed loyal to the station for more than a quarter of a century”. The decision highlights the worsening financial crisis in which Hariri has been trapped since the dissolution of Saudi-Oger, his father's construction and services company in Saudi Arabia. The company had been the pillar of the Hariri family fortune.

Competitors

The main and direct competitors of Future TV are

Murr Television Murr Television, marketed and known as MTV Lebanon, is a Lebanese television station based in Naccache, Metn District. History Founded in 1991 by Gabriel Murr, a Lebanese businessman and politician. MTV was shut down in 2002 as it was found ...

and

Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International ( ar, المؤسسة اللبنانية للإرسال انترناسيونال), widely known as LBCI, is a private television station in Lebanon. LBCI was founded in 1992 by acquiring the asse ...

Future Television brands

* Future TV Terrestrial: A localized channel dedicated to the whole Lebanese family, it was broadcast in Digital television format from Doha since 2003. * Future TV International: The channel is dedicated to Lebanese citizens in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. * Future TV America & Australia: The channel is dedicated to Lebanese citizens in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

and

Defunct brands

Zein TV Zein TV was a satellite TV channel started as a joint venture between Future TV and Dubai Media City Dubai Media City (DMC), part of Dubai Holding, is a tax-free zone within Dubai, United Arab Emirates. History and profile The Dubai Media C ...

: This channel had programs aimed at a younger adult audience, with discussions and content relevant to Arab youth. Reasons for shutting down this channel remain unclear. *

: This channel used to air news and political programs. The channel shut down on 20 August 2012 because the channel changed into a brand new version it was merged with the main future.

Popular programs

Future TV has produced many popular programs including

SuperStar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

(Arabic version of

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

), La Youmal لا يمل (a comedy/skit show), Miss Elite Top Model, El Halka Al-Ad'af (Arabic version of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

''), El Fakh (Arabic version of '' Cash Trapped''), and Alakhbar (The News) which was usually broadcast daily at different times in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French, and even

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

. Its most famous talk show was ''Sireh wo infatahit'' سيرة وأنفتحت (Arabic for ''Open for Discussion'') hosted by Zaven Kouyoumdjian. The show, which discussed various social and political issues, was thought to be the highest rating talk show in the Arab World. Future TV's longest running show was ''Khaleek bill bait'' خليك بالبيت (Arabic for ''Stay at Home'') hosted by

Zahi Wehbe Zahi is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Zahi Armeli (born 1957), Israeli football player * Zahi El-Khoury (born 1969), Lebanese fencer *Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass ( ar, زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egypti ...

. The show interviewed artists and intellectuals from the Arab World. The show used to be co-hosted by Shahnaz Abdallah. A show called "Transit" presented by talented anchor Najat Sharafeddine airing Sunday nights on Future Television was competing with a lot of other "Media Talk shows" aired on Lebanese and Middle Eastern TV corporations.

Logos

Image:Future_1993.PNG, Future TV original logo used from 1993 to 2003. Image:Future_Television.svg, Future TV second logo used from 2003 to 2007. Image:Future logo.png, 2007-August 20, 2012. File:Future tv logo 2012.jpg, from August 20, 2012 – September 2019.

Future TV personalities

Past

* Shahnaz Abdallah *

Najwa Qassem Najwa Kassem ( ar, نجوى قاسم, romanized as ''Qasem'', ''Qassim'', and ''Kassem''; 7 July 1967 – 2 January 2020) was a Lebanese journalist and television presenter (anchor) for Al Jadeed, Future TV and Al Arabiya. Kassem has received ...

* Joumana Nammour *

Rima Maktabi Rima, also known as Rima the Jungle Girl, is the fictional heroine of W. H. Hudson's 1904 novel '' Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest''. In it, Rima, a primitive girl of the shrinking rain forest of South America, meets Abel, a pol ...

Present

* Chef Chadi Zeitouni * Mahmoud Sammoura * Sahar El Khatib *

Mounir Hafi {{redirect, Monir, the village in Iran, Monir, Iran Muneer (also spelled Moneer, Monir, Mounir, or Muneyr, ar, منير, meaning ''illuminating'', ''lightsome'', ''bright'', ''luminous'') is a masculine Arabic given name, it may refer to: Given na ...

* Zaven Kouyoumdjian *

* Salman Sarriyiddine * Lina Doughan * Najat Sharafeddin * Youmna Tayyara *

Ali Hamade ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...

Maya Zankoul Maya Zankoul ( ar, مايا زنقول) (born 30 June 1986 in Hasbaya, Lebanon) is a Lebanese people, Lebanese author, visual artist, blogger and television personality mostly known for her sarcastic cartoons and comics published in her books and ...

* Nadim Koteich *Maria Fahel * Tal3at Feek

Affiliated Media

Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, also owned by the Hariri family, closed its print operations in January for similar reasons, thus threatening the survival of Hariri's Future Movement as a political project while Hezbollah's media empire remained very active despite the militant group's own financial woes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Future Television 1993 establishments in Lebanon Television channels and stations established in 1993 Television stations in Lebanon International broadcasters Mass media in Beirut Companies based in Beirut Arabic-language television stations