continued: "The Changing Scene of Lebanese Television" by Nabil H. Dajani
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Development of satellite broadcasting
The early 1990s witnessed the accelerating spread of satellite broadcasting in the Arab world. Lebanon was no exception. Satellite reception dishes became among the fastest selling commodities in Lebanon and the Arab Gulf countries. At least 400 to 450 unlicensed satellite television distribution companies are presently supplying satellite subscription to some 250,000 households. December 1998 statistics by Ipsos-Stat, a media research company, suggest that 58.2% of all Lebanese households had cable subscription to satellite stations (31). The cable operators usually subscribe to the different satellite systems, such as Orbit, and/or install reception dishes then distribute the signals they get through a cable system.

The major cry against the illegal operators comes from the local television stations that are losing a major share of their audiences to the cable system. The satellite stations are not very concerned with this phenomenon since the Lebanese market is very small and they wouldn't get all the present subscribers now watching them to actually pay the high fees for a smaller selection of stations. They are, however, considering raising their subscription fees paid by the operators.

Lebanese businessmen and television stations saw an excellent profit potential in this new development. Two stations ventured into this field even before getting officially licensed. They were LBCI and Future Television who established LBCSAT and Future International SAT respectively. Both satellite programs were ranked among the leading satellite programs in the Arab Gulf countries, an important source of advertising income (32).

Founded in February 1993, Future Television started, in October 1994, a trial satellite broadcasting over the footprint of Arabsat 1D. The testing period lasted two months. It was then launched on Arabsat 2A. Future International Television has 5-meter and 7-meter dishes installed in its Beirut and Sidon sites. An additional 13-meter dish was later installed in the government earth station in Jouret el Ballout as a redundant uplink facility. Future International TV covers the Middle East, North Africa and Southern Europe. It does not currently reach the American continent or Australia or the Far East. Future International TV is not coded and is available on Arabsat 2A medium C-band, downlink frequency 3863.75 Mhz.

Realizing the commercial and professional importance of satellite broadcasting LBCI plunged into this field in April 1996 when it established LBCSAT, a free satellite channel. The channel has been broadcasting 22 hours a day since January 1997. Later in 1997 LBC 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. A number of recent audience studies indicate that LBCSAT has a leading position in Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries. LBCSAT programs are available on Arabsat 2A, 26 degree east, C-band, downlink frequency 3740.75 Mhz.

Faced with the success of both Lebanese satellite stations the Government decided that the best way to respond was to have its own station, Tele Liban get into satellite broadcasting. An official government decision was adopted late in 1999 and Tele Liban began its satellite broadcast in the first week of March 2000. The TL satellite service is available simultaneously on ArabSat A3 and NileSat, covering the Arab world and part of Europe. However, it is now merely broadcasting its terrestrial programming via satellite, not special programs to satisfy Arab viewers or the Lebanese Diaspora. A fourth station, al-Manar requested a license for satellite transmission. The government approved the request in April 2000 and the satellite service of al-Manar began a four-hour satellite on the eve of May 24, 2000, the day of the liberation of South Lebanon. After the Palestinian "intifada" broke out, on September 28, 2000, al-Manar increased its satellite broadcasting to 18-hours/day.

The success of Lebanese satellite stations encouraged two other stations to get into this field. MTV began its satellite service in November 2000, on the eve of its ninth anniversary, and New TV, which is expected to go on the air in December 2000, announced that it would start its satellite service at the same time. New TV has already embarked on a six-hour experimental broadcasting.

Satellite broadcasting in Lebanon faced a number of obstacles at the beginning, during the regime of President Hrawi and Prime Minister Hariri. The first obstacle was to get government clearance to get a satellite connection. The second and more serious one was for the stations to secure the right to broadcast news. At the beginning the Hariri government did not permit both stations to transmit news on their satellite channels. The argument by the government was that Lebanese news programs might negatively affect Lebanon's relations with some Arab countries inasmuch as these countries may not tolerate the freedom the Lebanese media have.

LBCI challenged the ban and continued airing its satellite news program. The Hariri government reacted, late in December 1996, by deciding to censor "all news as well as direct and indirect political programs prepared for satellite broadcasting." A special "censorship team" was named including a number of well-respected journalists. Again, LBCI challenged the decision and sought a ruling from the state's judiciary advisory council. The council supported LBCI; consequently the Lebanese satellite channels won another battle.

Conclusion
The main problem facing broadcasting in Lebanon today is not that of government meddling for this interference is carried out within the "rules of the game" of Lebanese politics. It is primarily one of both the government and media institutions lacking the adequate structures and professionals that would provide the opportunity for this medium to contribute to its society's unity and cohesion as well as to address issues that are relevant to the every day life of the average citizen. Instead this medium gives predominate attention to commercialism at the expense of professionalism and social responsibility. Lebanese television officials, like the majority of their Arab colleagues, view the television medium essentially as one for passing time, thus we find that about half of the programs on Tele Liban, for example, of the entertainment type (33). Additionally, their news programs focus mainly on news of politicians, with little reflective coverage of issues that concern the general public (34). Examining the content of television programs one gets the impression that television officials believe that their viewers will accept whatever is given to them and, therefore, do not feel the necessity to make more effort to provide them with content that addresses their needs for information about issues that concern their livelihood and that are relevant to their culture and social norms and values. This has lead television stations to air low quality entertainment programs and talk shows that may entertain the common person but does not appeal to her/his mind or meet her/his intellectual and developmental needs. Thus we find in one television channel more than two thirds of its cultural programs presented in a foreign language. We also find that only one third of the programs directed at children were in Arabic and that the majority of the remaining children programs were presented without Arabic subtitles (35).

It is true that the Lebanese government has hampered the growth of television and kept broadcasting in a state of stagnation. It is also true that Lebanese television today, especially the type depicted on the satellite channels, is a mélange of various inconsistent programs, policies and structures, predominantly foreign in orientation and barely relevant to the needs of Lebanese society or Arab world. If one examines the content of these satellite channels one finds the following:
"1. Television soap operas that come from two main sources, Egypt and Syria.
2. News programs that also originate from two main sources, local and international news agencies and television news services.
3. Broadcasting programs that lack a picture, where an anchor responds, usually with sarcasm, to phone calls from viewers.
4. Talk shows, which are usually between a discussant and a political or economic personality. The discussant frequently is a reactor to what the guest has to say not a pro-actor.
5. Entertainment programs in the form of contests and games which depend on bribing the viewers with prizes donated by advertisers.
6. Movies the majority of which are either old Egyptian or American, and
7. Children's programs that are usually imported from the US" (36)

Prior to the advent of satellite broadcasting in Lebanon and other third world countries television broadcasting constituted a limited local problem. It was restricted to few channels for a moderate capacity audience. It is true that national audiences then had to watch programs that were controlled by censors "to protect the interests of the country." Today, however, with satellite broadcasting, the national audiences are at the mercy of tens of satellite stations whose broadcasters continuously bombard them with low culture and a variety of low quality programs, usually dealing with sex, religion, or slanted political news.

The present content of Lebanese satellite channels suggests that the viewer is not important in the satellite broadcasting specifications. Lebanese satellite broadcasters do not seems to be concerned with improving the level of knowledge among their audiences nor with developing positive criticism among them. They do not aim at introducing new broadcasting concepts that gives attention to national development, or cultural and intellectual creativity.

In conclusion, Lebanese television broadcasting and in particular satellite broadcasting lacks both professionalism and civic commitment. It is in urgent need for reorganization in order to cope with the role it is expected to play in the reconstruction of a country that has suffered from a long and costly civil war. While the government is in need to provide the climate of freedom that is conducive for the broadcasting medium, the broadcasters need to be committed to their social responsibility and to developing a well-trained corps of professionals in the different fields of television production. TBS

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Notes | References

Nabil Dajani (Ph.D. University of Iowa, Iowa City) is professor of communication and chair of the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the American University of Beirut. Presently he is a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.