Local Lebanese TV Stations No Longer Free in Cable Subscriptions
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Cable television providers have been prohibited from broadcasting for free the eight local Lebanese television stations.
The broadcast of the eight channels, Tele Liban, Future TV, LBCI, al-Jadeed, al-Manar, OTV, MTV, and NBN, through cables has been prohibited in accordance to a decree issued on April 11 by Economy Minister Alain Hakim.
A subscription fee of four dollars has been imposed for those seeking to view the channels.
LBCI, one of the first channels to be removed from free viewing, stated that it can be accessed through the satellite providers cablevision and econet.
Speaking on behalf of the owners of the television channels, lawyer Wissam Mansouri said that violators will be prosecuted.
Those seeking to obtain the rights to broadcast the channels are to submit a request to his office and sign the appropriate legal documents between May 1 and June 1.
An Nahar daily on Saturday attributed the development to a dispute between the owners of the television stations and owners of the cable television providers when the former accused the latter of monopolizing the air, demanding its share of profits being made at their expense.
In the absence of laws regulating the telecommunications sector, most Lebanese get their subscriptions from mostly illegal cable companies that operate through piracy and charge about LBP 20,000 ($13) a month.
M.T.
02 May 2015, 14:44
01
Law fiyoun kheyr, ma ken ramehoun il teyr. They can pass any law they want, I believe very few will shed any tear on these Lebanese TV stations, their programs in truth are totally useless and totally marred by way too many adverts and by way too many fake news. So long as international news stations exist, most of us will be fine.
02 May 2015, 17:10
11
international news stations are equally fake and are agenda based. As for this new fee along with new measures taking place over the last year, makes you wonder whether the government is acting in favour of the people or for the benefit of future big businesses that will be stepping in, much as you would find in the west where many of the law are geared to support big business. Lets hope government is acting with good intentions.
02 May 2015, 15:35
01
That is overpriced. I get unlimited landline calls for some 100 countries, including all of Europe and North America; I get unlimited cell-phone calls as well as landline calls nationally; I get 280 international channels, including 55 in HD, and I can watch them on my iPad; I get access to over 30,000 video-on-demand movies, which I can download onto my supplied 500 Gb netbox, at a speed of 400 Mb/s; all for less than 42 €. Maybe you should switch ISPs: http://offres.numericable.fr/tripleplay/labox-family-13457
02 May 2015, 15:38
01
Hah! 3ambeerabhouna jmeeleh 2al! Let's see how much money advertisers will be interested in spending to put commercials on these channels now with the further drop in viewer numbers. Talk about slaying the goose that laid the golden eggs...
