Télé Liban SAL

In August 1956, the Lebanese government granted two Lebanese businessmen, Wissam Ezzeddine and Alex Moufarrej a television company license under the name Compagnie Libanaise de télévision (CLT) for a period of 15 years. In July 1961, a consortium of Lebanese entrepreneurs founded a second television network called Télé-Orient, securing its own broadcasting license within the same year. The two private companies CLT and Télé Orient were nationalized and merged into a joint company in 1978 with public and private shareholders. Télé Liban was granted a license for 25 years with a monopoly over broadcasting until 2012, which was ended with the enactment of the Audiovisual Media Law No. 382 of 1994. The private sector shares were over the years bought by more than one investor, the latest being former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who acquired all the private sector shares, which were later bought by the state in 1996, and Télé Liban became a fully state-owned company.