Television branding in Lebanon : the birth of modern Lebanese television in 1995

Abstract

In the mis nineties, the Lebanese television went through a critical transitional phase as Lebanon was moving towards peace folowing 15 years of civil war. In this stage, an Audio Visual Media Law was introduced to regulate the ownership and opertion of the militia owned de facto radio and television stations. This law was the first of its kind in Lebanon and the Middle East. To cope with the country's media scene, the Lebanese television stations had to restructure themselves on the corporate level, reposition their status, and rethink their programming policies. This mission was accomplished successfully by most of the newly licensed stations, and it paved the way to the rise of modern Lebanese television on both terrestrial and satellite levels. The purpose of this study was to examine this particular phase through three self promotional music videos that were produced and aired in 1995 by three of the most prominent television channels of the time: Tele Liban, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, and Future Television. The significance of those clips has been largely overlooked by Lebanese media scholars. This thesis also aimed to archive those clips in their historical context, and to explore the symbolsand techniques used in the execution to show that they were part of a comprehensive media branding effort. The theoretical framework of this study was based on Aaker's brand identity planning model (BIPM). The literature review covered brand formation, branding, media branding and Lebanese television history. As for the methodology, it entailed content analysis and in depth interviews with the key media personalities who stood behind the marking of those clips. The findings of this study proved that these clips were actually part of a brand identity formation process. This process may be seen today as the first branding effort in the history of Lebanese television. Moreover, the findings of this study showed that those clips have actually formulated the brand identity of TL, LBC and FTV for years to come.