The
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as
LBC, is the first private television station in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC
Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the
Arab WorldThe Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. It now has several channels covering
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
,
AmericaThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and Sub Saharian Africa region. Currently, the channel is one of the most popular channels in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
Post-War era
The
Lebanese civil warThe Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
ended in 1990 with the signing of the Taef agreement. The
Lebanese ForcesThe Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
signed the agreement and held positions in the government, but still maintained an anti-Syrian position which was reflected in the LBC's news reporting.
On July 23, 1992, the Lebanese government compelled LBC to evacuate its Jounieh premises without prior warning or notifications, before governmental troops took over the building.
The station moved to Adma, several kilometers away.
On March 23, 1994, the Lebanese government ordered the dissolution of the
Lebanese ForcesThe Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
. And on April 21, 1994, Samir Geagea, leader of the party, was arrested.
Pierre Daher, a co-founder who managed the station from its beginning, made sure that LBC survived this transitional phase.
During the Syrian presence in Lebanon, the LBC political stance reflected the influences of its shareholders who varied throughout this period.
LBCSAT, a free satellite channel, was launched in April 1996. The new channel was a success, especially to the Lebanese diaspora, disseminated throughout the world. LBCSAT has been broadcasting 22 hours a day since January 1997 and continues to rank first among stations in the Middle East.
Shortly thereafter, within a period of three months, LBC launched three new encrypted and free-to-air channels: LBC Europe, LBC America, LBC Australia, and LBC Sub Saharian Africa. Today, all these channels broadcast around the clock.
In December 2003, Alwaleed Bin Talal, the Saudi prince, bought 48% of the stocks of LBC Sat.
Al Hayat and LBC SAT merger
At the end of the year 2002, LBC
Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya and the London-based Al Hayat newspaper owned by Saudis, merged their news programs. LBC
Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya daily news report was called the "Al Hayat-LBC news report".
In 2010, the cooperation stopped due to several issues.
LBC Saudi Desk
LBC launched in 2002 its
Saudi Desk, which was responsible for Saudi-targeted programs on LBC SAT. In early 2010, LBC closed its
Saudi Desk, ended all its Saudi-targeted shows.
Current ownership battle
After the
Cedar RevolutionThe Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...
and the release of
Samir GeageaSamir Farid Geagea , born October 25, 1952, is a Lebanese politician. He is also a senior figure in the March 14 Alliance, alongside Saad Hariri and Amine Gemayel....
, the current leader (as of 18 Feb 2008) of the
Lebanese ForcesThe Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
, the party started reestablishing itself and demanded that Daher surrender ownership of the TV station back to the party. Daher refused to do so, saying that "he will not allow the station to be subservient to a political party."
On November 16, 2007, hundreds of Lebanese Forces supporters gathered in front of LBC television in protest of the decision to cancel an interview with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
The interview was called off, after Geagea filed a lawsuit against Daher seeking to repossess LBC and restore its ownership back to the Lebanese Forces.
Current Brands
- LBC LOCAL or LBC International:
•
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) was launched 23 August 1985. LBC is the first private TV station to be launched in Lebanon and a pioneer in the region. LBC Local or LBC International is by far the uncontested leader in the Lebanese market with an aprox 60% MS.
Lebanese Youth: (Primary target)
Young Lebanese Family: (Secondary Target)
• Launched in 1996, LBC Sat, widely known as LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya , is an international version of LBC targeted to viewers in the
Arab WorldThe Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. LBC Sat also available on freeTVRadio.
• LBC Europe is an international version of LBC targeted to
LebaneseThe Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
citizens in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
• LBC America is an international version of LBC targeted to
LebaneseThe Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
citizens in
AmericaThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
• LBC Australia is an international version of LBC targeted to
LebaneseThe Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
citizens in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
• LBC Sub Saharian Africa is an international version of LBC targeted to
LebaneseThe Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
citizens in the Sub Saharian Africa region.
Defunct brands
This is a list of other LBC brands which were once launched, but later removed for various reasons.
- C33: C33 was the French alternative to LBC's main channel, as in it used to broadcast programs mainly in French as opposed to the main channel that broadcasts mainly in Arabic. Although C33 did have some crucial shows in Arabic as well. Despite its success, the channel stopped its broadcast in the mid-1990s for reasons unclear.
- LBC Plus: LBC Plus was a separate subscription version of LBC Sat, and used to broadcast premium shows. Plus was launched a year after LBC Sat's debut, but it lasted only for a short while, and some of the shows on Plus later moved to LBC's free channels.
- LBC WOW: LBC WOW was a separate subscription channel aimed for a younger adult audience. Like Plus, it did not last long, and some of its original shows were moved to other LBC channels. LBC WOW was originally established to compete with Future Television
Future Television a television station broadcasting from Lebanon. It was founded in 1993 by Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Future TV is also available via satellite in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Politically, the channel supports the views of the Future...
's Zein TV, a similar but freely-aired channel.
- LBC Nagham was a 24-hour, free-to-air channel that catered for the Arab youth with music interests. Filling a strategic consumer need gap, LBC Nagham, depended on a dual Arabic and English exclusive musical offering. Established in early 2003, ‘Nagham’ (meaning ‘tune’ in Arabic), as the brand name reflects, was one of the first specialized music channels launched in the region. As of July 15, 2011 'Nagham' stopped broadcasting.
Popular programs
LBC has produced many popular programs including
Star Academy Arab WorldStar Academy Arab World, also known as Star Academy: Al-Academya or Star Academy LBC, is a pan-Arab televised talent show, which began in 2003 that features a group of young male and female candidates from all over the Arab world....
,
Ya Katel Ya Maktoul (Arabic version of
GreedGreed is an American television game show that aired on Fox from November 4, 1999 until July 14, 2000. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $2 million...
),
Miss Lebanon.Miss Lebanon - Lebanon's Official National Beauty Pageant is a beauty contest in Lebanon.Miss Lebanon is the only national beauty contest that awards prizes worth more than one million US dollars to its winners. It is broadcast on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , since 1991...
,
Hellha wo Ehtalha (Arabic version of French TV Show
Fort BoyardFort Boyard is a fort located between the Île-d'Aix and the Île d'Oléron in the Pertuis d'Antioche straits, on the west coast of France. Though a fort on Boyard bank was suggested as early as the 17th century, it was not until the 1800s under Napoleon Bonaparte that work began.-Layout:Fort...
),
SurvivorSurvivor is a reality television game show format produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. The show uses a system of progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe...
Middle East,
El Wadi (Arabic version of
The Farm),
The Perfect Bride and
Mission Fashion.
Its most famous talk show is
Kalam Ennas hosted by
Marcel Ghanem-Early years:Ghanem was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964. He graduated from Lebanese University with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1987. He also studied biology while giving tutoring lessons in the morning...
. The show, which originally aired on C33, moved to LBC after C33 was shut down in the mid-1990s. Another famous show is
BassMat Watan ' onMouseout='HidePop("25756")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pun">pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
in
LebaneseLebanese or Lebanese Arabic is a variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages, and is in some ways unique from other varieties of Arabic...
for either "The smiles of the Nation" or "When the nation died", depending on how people see the joke of this title), a sketch-comedy show that deals with politics and current events.
- Ahmar Bel Khat El Arid
Ahmar Bel Khat El Arid is a talk show that discusses a variety of controversial social and human issues airing on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, a privately owned television station in Lebanon. The flagship show which premiered on March 19, 2008, has become a weekly rendezvous for its vast...
- Kalam Ennas
- Akhbar.com
- Nharkom Said
- Celebrity Duets ديو المشاهير
- Top Chef Middle East
Top Chef Middle East is a reality competition that airs on LBC in which 17 chefs compete against one another in culinary challenges. It is based on the American reality television show Top Chef...
- Beirut I Love You
- Arqam Btehki
- In Touch
In Touch may refer to:* In Touch Weekly, a celebrity and lifestyle magazine* In Touch Ministries, a Christian Evangelical organization* In Touch, a programme on BBC Radio 4...
- Basmat Watan
Basmat Watan is a political satire and slapstick program that airs on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, a privately-owned television station in Lebanon. The writer of the show, Charbel Khalil, began work on the program in 1995 and in 2007 was leading its timeslot with 26 percent of the audience...
- Douma Kratiya
- Helwi w Murra
- Zefou El Arous
- Lezim Taaref
- Kids Power
- Nehna Labaad
- Bala Mazeh
- Tele Auto
- Star Academy Arab World
Present
- Dima Sadek
- Annabella Hilal
Annabella Semir Hilal is a Lebanese model and TV presenter.She was the first runner-up in the 2005 Miss Lebanon contest....
- Bassam Abou Zaid
- Bruna Tohme
- Carla Haddad
- Carla Younis
- Chantal Srour
- Dalal Abou Haydar
- Dina Azar
Dina Azar is 1995 Miss Lebanon, she was born in Al-Ashrafeyeh- Beirut in 1972. She holds a BA degree in English Literature. She is currently a presenter for Celebrities Duet on LBC. She hosted Mahatat on Al Arabiya...
- Dolly Ghanem
- Elize Farah
- Fadia Dokmak
- Francois Habchi
- George Ghanem
- Ghayath Dibra
- Hilda Khalife
Hilda Khalife is a one of the recognized TV presenters in the Arab world. Despite her modeling career, Khalife's fame started in 2004 when she began hosting the first season of the pan-Arab televised talent show Star Academy Arab World on LBC, the Arabic adaptation of the French television show...
- Malek Maktabi
Malek Maktabi also known as Malik Maktaby is a famous television presenter.Malek Maktabi hosts and runs the talk show Ahmar Bil Khatt Al Aarid which runs on LBC...
- Marcel Ghanem
-Early years:Ghanem was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1964. He graduated from Lebanese University with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1987. He also studied biology while giving tutoring lessons in the morning...
- May Mata
- Mirielle Akiki
- Tony Baroud
- Rima Assaf
-Early life:Rima Assaf was born in Hardine, North Lebanon and raised in Chekka, North Lebanon. Her mother is a housewife and her father, now deceased, used to work in commerce. She has one brother, Antoine, and one sister, Ramza....
- Sana Nasr
- Wafaa Kilani
- Yazbek Wehbe
External links