Television in Lebanon

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Television in Lebanon arose as a private initiative and not a state-institution.^[1] Lebanon was the first country in the Middle East & the Arab world to have indigenous television broadcasting.^{[2][page needed]} Various Arab televisions emulated the Lebanese model.^[3]

There are two significant television platforms in Lebanon: analogue terrestrial (14% of households) and free satellite (83% of households).^[4] There is also a relatively high penetration of cable television, but because of the high prevalence of cable theft the official penetration rate is low, at less than 5%.^[4] More than 90% of Lebanese households have access to satellite television.^[5]

There are 22 free-to-air satellite channels headquartered in Lebanon.^[4] There is one government-owned television channel, Tele Liban, which was established in 1959.^[4] Several TV channels are politically affiliated, and political parties are an important source of funding.^[4] Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) was launched in 1985, was the first private network in Lebanon.^[4] Some other Lebanese channels include MTV Al Lubnaniya, Future TV, Al Manar TV, NBN, Al Jadeed TV and Orange TV.^[4]

Domestic channels, in particular LBCI, have historically been the most popular, as opposed to most other Arab countries where pan-Arab channels dominate.^[4] Despite that, large pan-Arab broadcasters, and in particular MBC channels, have proven popular with satellite viewers.^[4]