Tele Liban has stopped broadcasting its regular TV programmes. Photo: Ministry of Information
Tele Liban has stopped broadcasting its regular TV programmes. Photo: Ministry of Information
Tele Liban has stopped broadcasting its regular TV programmes. Photo: Ministry of Information
Tele Liban has stopped broadcasting its regular TV programmes. Photo: Ministry of Information

Lebanon's public broadcaster Tele Liban taken off air


Jamie Prentis
  • English
  • Arabic

Lebanon's caretaker government shut down the country's public broadcaster Tele Liban on Friday as staff protest over unpaid salaries and benefits.

The station, which was founded in 1977, is one of the oldest in the region and has about 200 employees who have not been paid in almost 22 months.

The move comes days after Ziad Makary, Minister of Information, said talks with union representatives were progressing.

Mr Makary said on Friday that the station had not been closed and would resume broadcasting at an unspecified date.

The station has stopped broadcasting its regular TV programmes.

Lebanon's media landscape is dominated by the private sector and channels are typically owned by or aligned with political parties, putting Tele Liban in a unique position.

In December, Tele Liban did not show the Fifa World Cup in Qatar after the government had failed to come to an agreement over the payment of broadcasting rights.

In the wake of the country's devastating 2019 economic collapse, the Lebanese pound has lost about 98 per cent of its value against the US dollar.

Salaries in local currency have not matched rampant inflation in Lebanon, a country heavily reliant on imports. For those paid in the Lebanese pound, such as in the public sector, their spending power has been hit significantly.

Many ministries are struggling with employee absences as a result of the wage issue.

The crisis, blamed on decades of corruption and mismanagement by the Lebanese elite, has plunged much of the population into poverty and led to widespread shortages of basic essentials including medicine and electricity.

The specs

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Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

Dubai World Cup nominations

UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer

USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.

Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.

While you're here

Company profile

Name: Fruitful Day

Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie

Based: Dubai, UAE

Founded: 2015

Number of employees: 30

Sector: F&B

Funding so far: Dh3 million

Future funding plans: None at present

Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries

MATCH INFO

Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')

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Updated: August 11, 2023, 2:29 PM`