Thursday, September 19, 2019

Future TV is kaput: la3younak no more!

Al Mustaqbal logo - artwork by Tarek Chemaly
And so after shutting down Al Mustaqbal newspaper (read my take here, modified slightly here), it seems Future TV is now on the chopping block. The TV owned by the Hariri family (I am assuming directly owned by Prime Minister Saad Al Harriri but am not sure of my legal info), was announced to be shutting down (supposedly to relaunch later) after its employees went on a strike over unpaid wages.
Do note, all political parties or figures in Lebanon own mouthpieces, and when it was launched in 1993 by Rafic Hariri, the TV in question proved revolutionary in terms of programs, jingles, and overall presentation. Just to tell you how big its clout is, especially after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, and during the condolences which were broadcasted live on the airwaves, at one point Saad asks a nearby waiter for a diet 7UP - and boom - the next day the whole country was talking about "Saad Hariri asked for a Diet 7UP". But all (good/bad) things must come to an end I presume.
No more Zaven Kouyoumjdian (who interviewed me lately) or lovely, cultured Ghida Majzoub and so on. But then this was a "chronique d'une mort annoncee" - the end has been seen for a while.
La3younak no more!