Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Broadcastand television network |
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| Country | Lebanon |
| Availability | Lebanon; also available in Arab World, Europe, North America, and Australia |
| Owner | LBC Group |
| Launch date | August, 1993 (television network) |
| Website | LBC website |
Founded in August 1985, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (Arabic: المؤسسة اللبنانية للإرسال), widely known as LBCI, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya (Arabic: الفضائية اللبنانية Lebanese satellite channel) covering the Middle East. It now has several channels covering Europe, North America, and Australia. Much like other Lebanese TV channels, LBC has its own sectarian bias. It is generally representative of the mainly Maronite Lebanese right wing.
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[edit] Detailed History
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) was launched over the airwaves of Lebanon on August 23, 1985, under difficult circumstances. The Lebanese civil war, aided and abetted by foreign armies, was at that time ten years old and any solution still seemed distant. Lebanon was characterized then by political unrest, military conflagration, and popular despair.
The group of young and determined people who put together LBC knew that it was going to be a baptism of fire. But they had no idea how hot it was going to get.
After five years of success and popular acclaim, LBC faced a formidable challenge when, in 1989, the chaos in Lebanon took a turn for the worse after Lebanese army commander General Michel Aoun declared the war of liberation. The LBC premises were periodically targeted by the heavy shelling which raged uninterruptedly for six months.
Throughout that time, the staff moved all the equipment to the basement where they set up makeshift offices. Working and sleeping underground, the staff ensured the station never went off the air for a single day.
The next challenge came the following year when fierce fighting erupted again in 1990. The LBC offices were again targeted and this time received direct hits during artillery duels. The damage caused by shelling was soon overshadowed by the tragic death of an LBC cameraman, shot dead while on duty. Yet again, LBC, throughout these dark days, never once went off the air.
As if that were not enough, another test of commitment presented itself on July 23, 1992, when without prior warning, the Lebanese government compelled LBC to evacuate its Jounieh premises. In a race against the clock , the entire LBC staff were mobilized and more than 50 trucks were brought in to carry off the equipment before government troops took over the building.
Within a single day, everything was moved - to the last nut and bolt - to a new location in Adma several kilometers away. And that evening, at 8 pm sharp, viewers were able to watch the LBC news bulletin, broadcast from an improvised studio. The LBC team had risen to the challenge yet again.
With the end of the civil war in Lebanon, exciting new opportunities arose for the newly-renamed LBC International. After confronting and overcoming years of difficulties, LBC International now faces a challenge of another kind as it consolidates its resources - both human and material - and prepares to take a quantum leap forward into the future of national and international mass communication.
A lot of ground was covered in that direction with the launch of LBCSAT, a free satellite channel, in April 1996. Once again, the staff's eagerness and skills ensured instant and growing success for LBCSAT among audiences throughout the Arab world. So much so, that the channel has been broadcasting 22 hours a day since January 1997 and continues to rank number one in the Middle East.
Shortly after that, and in a period of only three months, are launched three new encrypted channels: LBC Europe, LBC America, and LBC Australia. Today, LBC Europe is broadcasting 16 hours a day while the two other channels broadcast around the clock.
It is through such continual achievements that LBC International & LBC Al Fadaia Al Lubnania fulfill their ambition to be a world-class TV networks that are close as a communication medium for the future.
[edit] Competitors
In Lebanon, LBC is one of the highest rated televisions. Its biggest competitors are Future Television and Murr Television. The latter was shutdown in September 2002 due to political reasons.
[edit] Popular Programs
LBC has produced many popular programs including Star Academy Lebanon, Ya Atel Ya Ma'toul (Arabic version of Greed), Miss Lebanon, Survivor Middle East, El Wadi (Arabic version of The Farm) and the most recent one is Mission Fashion released right after Star Academy during the month of April. Deal or No Deal is currently a big hit, despite the first season already ended.
Its most famous talk show is Kalem enNess (Arabic for "Talking Point") hosted by Marcel Ghanem. The show, which originally aired on C33, moved to LBC after C33 was shut down in the mid-1990s. Another famous show is Besmet al-Watan (Arabic for either "The Country is Laughing" or "But the Country is Deceased", depending on how people see the joke of this title), a sketch-comedy show that deals with politics and current events.
[edit] LBCI personalities
[edit] Past
[edit] Present
- Tony Baroud
- May Chidiac
- Maggie Farah
- George Ghanem
- Marcel Ghanem
- Dolly Ghanem
- Hilda Khalifeh
- Tony Khalifeh
[edit] External links
- Official Site (Arabic) (English)
