Télé Liban launches reforms

Talal Makdessi appointed temporary Chairman

The Ministry of Information has appointed Talal Makdessi as Chairman of Télé Liban’s board of directors, succeeding the late Ibrahim El Khoury. The new management has set a reform plan aiming at reviving the station. Makdessi is the founder of MENACOM, one of the biggest media and ad agencies in the region.

Makdessi said that his appointment is temporary until a committee from the new Council of Ministers appoints a new board.

The reform plan aims at rehabilitating Télé Liban at the earliest to lead the channel into the digital broadcast era before 2015. The station’s management has already started studying offers from technical suppliers. Makdessi said: “Machines will require around five months for delivery, and the whole switching process will then take around ten months.”

According to Makdessi, this measure opens new opportunities to the channel’s employees to broaden their knowhow. “Télé Liban employs 219 people, and we hope to put the right person in the right place.”

The project was financed through an ‘exclusive funding’ method arranged by the Ministry of Information, with a budget of less than $10 million for this phase.

Télé Liban has also started restoring Telemanagement, its media buying agency in Hamra. The plan then involves restoring the station’s property in Sin El Fil, above the Ivoire theater. The building will house the Télé Liban archives, considered part of the national heritage.

“The station’s two other properties in Tallet El Khayat and Hazmieh, could be merged later, depending on conditions and the work environment.”