Television in Lebanon

Television in Lebanon arose as a private initiative and not a state-institution.Lebanon, along with Iraq, was the first country in the Arab world to have indigenous television broadcasting. Various Arab televisions emulated the Lebanese model.

There are two significant television platforms in Lebanon: analogue terrestrial (14% of households) and free satellite (83% of households). There is also a relatively high penetration of cable television, but because of the high prevalence of cable theft the official penetration rate is low, at less than 5%. More than 90% of Lebanese households have access to satellite television.

There are 22 free-to-air satellite channels headquartered in Lebanon. There is one government-owned television channel, Tele Liban, which was established in 1957. Several TV channels are politically affiliated, and political parties are an important source of funding. LBC, was launched in 1985, was the first private network in Lebanon. Some other Lebanese channels include MTV Al Lubnaniya, Future TV, Al Manar TV, NBN, Al Jadeed TV and Orange TV.

Domestic channels, in particular LBC, have historically been the most popular, as opposed to most other Arab countries where pan-Arab channels dominate. Despite that, large pan-Arab broadcasters, and in particular MBC channels, have proven popular with satellite viewers.

While television in the Arab world was a government monopoly, Lebanon was an exception. In 1956, the Lebanese government granted broadcast licenses to two private companies, La Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision (CLT) and Compagnie de Télévision du Liban et du Proche (Télé-Orient). CLT began broadcasting on May 28, 1959, making it the first commercial television station in the Arabic-speaking world. Soon after Télé-Orient, with financing from the American Broadcasting Company, began broadcasting. CLT, which was licensed to Alex Aridi and Wissam Izzedine, operated two VHF channels, Canal 7 and Canal 9. Canal 9 was a French-language channel. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, media production migrated from Cairo to Beirut; that helped fuel television production in Lebanon.

In 1967, CLT became the third television station in the world after the Soviet Union and France to broadcast in color, utilizing the French SECAM technology. Export of taped programming to other Arab countries continued and was profitable during this decade. Both CLT and Tele Orient sold locally produced programs to television institutions in the Arab world.

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