Télé-Liban is a television broadcaster that emerged through the merger of two private television stations, La Compagnie Libanaise de Télévision and Télé-Orient, which were bought by the government in 1977. Today, Télé-Liban has a very small audience as competing private stations dominate the country’s television market.
Media assets
Television: Télé-Liban
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
Following a series of changes in its ownership over the course of the past two decades, with a number of investors controlling at various points in time stakes in the broadcaster, Télé-Liban is today fully owned by the government, which appoints the station’s chairperson and board of directors. In 2018, the Lebanese information minister called for the privatization of the state-run broadcasters Télé-Liban and Radio Liban. The minister said that such a move would help the government cut its expenditure, however, the government has not pursued this plan to date.
Source of funding and budget
Télé-Liban is funded through a combination of ad revenues and state subsidies. Because of its low audience, Télé-Liban has seen its advertising revenues declining in recent years, the company relying on government funding to keep its operation afloat. Annually, the government spends some LBP 20bn (US$ 13.3m) on running Tele Liban, according to local experts. The broadcaster doesn’t release financial data about its operation.
In an unprecedented crisis, the government shut down Télé-Liban in August 2023 following protests by the staff over unpaid salaries. According to the minister of information, Ziad Makary, the station is to resume broadcasting but he would not say when.
Editorial independence
Télé-Liban is editorially under the control of the government, according to an assessment by local experts. This being said, because the station doesn’t have a high audience, the government’s pressures on the broadcaster are sometimes less intense.
Legal provisions in various laws (such as the 1962 Press Law and 1994 Audiovisual Media law) ensure that the press in Lebanon is protected from “random abusive interventions.” However, there is no domestic statute that establishes the editorial independence of Télé-Liban.
No independent mechanism to validate the editorial independence of Télé-Liban has been identified.
August 2023