Some 10 years into the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) a TV station was formed by Bashir Gemayel, then leader of the Lebanese Forces, and reflecting the mostly Maronite Christian position during the fierce sectarian battles then taking place in the country. Now, LBC has battles of its own.
Gemayel was later assassinated. Gemayel’s co-founder was Pierre Daher.
LBC has since grown to be a very major player on the pan-Arab TV scene
with Daher supervising expansion onto satellite (1997), and overseas
into the US, Australia and Asia. Now the channel is enveloped in
another bitter battle, with the station accused of having abandoned its
heritage.
Earlier this year Samir Geagea, as leader of the Lebanese Forces,
demanded that Daher surrender ownership of the TV station back to the
Lebanese Forces political party.
Complicating the issue is the fact that the satellite channel was
initially backed (49%) by Sheikh Salah Kamel (best known for his
ownership of Arab Radio & Television, ART). In December 2003 that
portion was acquired by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who
has since further consolidated his investment into the business.
The Lebanese Forces (LF) has now issued a fresh statement clearly
attacking Pierre Daher. "The news of the LF is subject to scandalous
neglect from the LBC," the LF media statement said, noting that the LBC
"has not allowed LF figures to take part in political news shows for a
long time." The claim continued: “And here a question is raised. Why is
LBC ignoring the news and opinions of the LF?"
The statement also criticized Daher directly, saying his "attitude is
that of a militia because he sold most of LBC's shares without
consulting anyone, earning him a lot of money." Daher had earlier said
that LBC would under no circumstances serve a single party's purposes.
The news station "refuses to be a mouthpiece of any political party,"
he said.
Nevertheless, there’s still a lawsuit rumbling through the Lebanese
courts claiming ownership by the Lebanese Forces. LBC has also changed
its shareholder structure, and in recent years, Prince Alwaleed bin
Talal, through his media company Rotana, has acquired a great number of
the network’s corporate shares which if nothing else complicates
matters hugely.
