Télé Liban (also known as TL, ar, تلفزيون لبنان) is the first
Lebanese public television network, owned by the
Lebanese government
Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The ...
. It was a result of a merger of the privately run Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) (channels 7 and 9) and Télé-Orient (channels 5 and 11). TL is the current Lebanese member of the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU).
[
]
History
Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision
The Lebanese government granted businessmen Wissam Izzeddine and Alex Moufarrej the first local television license in August 1956, and private Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) (in Arabic, شركة التلفزيون اللبنانية). CLT aired programs for the first time on 28 May 1959, making it the first TV station not only in Lebanon but also in the region. The station was officially launched by General Sleiman Nawfal with the aid of France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Télé-Orient
The station remained Lebanon's only television station until Télé-Orient, full name Television of Lebanon and the Orient (in Arabic تلفزيون لبنان والمشرق) obtained its own license in July 1961 and began operating from Hazmieh
Hazmieh (also Romanized as Hazmiyé, Hazmie, Hasmiyeh, Al Ḩāzimīyah, and El Hâzmîyé) is a town in Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, and a suburb of Beirut, part of Greater Beirut.
Geography
Hazmieh covers an area of 2.73 square kilom ...
. The channel had identical programming on its two broadcasting channels 5 and 11.
The Golden Age
Throughout the 1960s and until the 1970s, Télé Liban provided local, original programming as well as imports from France and the United States.[Kraidy. Marwan M.''Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization'', Pearson Longman, Temple University, 2005, page 123] What made Télé Liban unique in the region was its creation of innovative content for a pluralistic country like Lebanon.
The station had two channels, the Arabic channel 7 and mainly French-oriented channel 9 with separate local and French television programming.
During the Civil War
During the Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
, the two private television stations had been taken over by militias, CLT-based channels 7 and 9 located in West Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
had been dominated by the left wing and Muslim militias and Télé-Orient station channels 5 and 11 located in Hazmieh
Hazmieh (also Romanized as Hazmiyé, Hazmie, Hasmiyeh, Al Ḩāzimīyah, and El Hâzmîyé) is a town in Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, and a suburb of Beirut, part of Greater Beirut.
Geography
Hazmieh covers an area of 2.73 square kilom ...
in the Christian suburbs of East Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
by right wing Christian militias. Both stations fell into presenting biased coverage according to the parties dominating the station.
Two unlicenced pirate stations, the right-wing Christian "Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation" (LBC) and the left-wing Muslim "Television of Arab Lebanon" (تلفزيون لبنان العربي) run by the Mourabitoun Muslim Sunni militia were launched challenging the existing stations.
The newly elected president, Elias Sarkis
Elias is the Greek equivalent of Elijah ( he, אֵלִיָּהוּ ''ʾĒlīyyāhū''; Syriac: ܐܠܝܐ ''Eliyā''; Arabic: الیاس Ilyās/Elyās), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy ...
wanted a unified media outlet to promote his agenda of peace and unity.[Harb, Zahera. Channels of Resistance in Lebanon: Liberation Propaganda, Hezbollah and the Media, I.B.Tauris (15 April 2011), page 97] The two privately owned stations, CLT and Télé Orient, and their subsidiaries agreed to merge in a deal where half the shares were owned by the Lebanese government. The Legislative Decree No. 100 was published in the ''National Gazette'' (in Arabic الجريدة الرسمية) on 7 July 1977, making the merger official
The private CLT and Télé-Orient rival stations would later be completely acquired by the Lebanese government and the merged company became a public television station and name changed to Télé Liban.
Post-War Period
When the civil war ended, Télé Liban's monopoly was removed under the 1994 Audiovisual Media Law, and the station found itself for the first time facing tremendous competition. Other television stations with more innovative programming, such as the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International
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 ...
, overtook Télé Liban's audience in the 1990s.
Rafic Hariri
Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...
bought the private sector shares of Télé Liban months before he became prime minister in 1992 and appointed Fouad Naïm as chairman, who quickly revamped the station. However, the government bought back all the shares from the private sector in 1994.
The plethora of private terrestrial and satellite stations available in the Lebanese television market came at the expense of Télé Liban, which since the late 1990s been in continuous decline.
Administration
Initially, Télé Liban was managed by a board composed of twelve directors, six representing the government and six representing TLC and Télé Orient.
The chair of the channel is appointed by the Lebanese cabinet. Jean Claude Boulos and Ibrahim El Khoury
Ibrahim E. El Khoury ( ar, ابراهيم أ. الخوري; July 20, 1936 – July 28, 2013) was a Lebanese director and producer who was chairman of the Télé Liban television network from 1999 until his death.
Early life
He started at ...
(chairman from 1999 to 2013) were former presidents of the channel during the 1990s. from 2014 to 2017 Talal Makdessi was the new temporary president of the channel until a committee from the new Council of Ministers appointed a new board, but currently Télé Liban does not have a Chairman of the Board knowing that after a judicial decision on 26 May 2017, Makdessi was dismissed[
]
See also
* Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International
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 ...
* MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
* OTV
* NBN
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tele Liban
Television stations in Lebanon
Arabic-language television stations
1959 establishments in Lebanon
Television channels and stations established in 1959
Mass media in Beirut
European Broadcasting Union members