It seems that the company behind the Eden Bay Resort have been sending out lawsuits against the media who covered the usurping of the last tiny strip of public beaches in Beirut by yet another private hotel/resort. The one sent to MTV though, is particularly salacious.
The lawsuits alleges that even though MTV condemned the assault on the last piece of public beach in the capital, the station was ready to reverse that stance a full 180 degrees if the Eden Bay folks pay up.
I managed to get my hands on the offer allegedly sent by MTV to Eden Bay, after the Eden Bay people solicited it in hopes of proving the outright blackmail for almost a quarter million US dollars.
Here’s the email (I’ve redacted the names and emails and numbers of the individuals in the email, since I’m not MTV and respect people’s privacy)
This is shocking, but I’m not sure it’s really a surprise. MTV’s flip-flopping often happens at break-neck speed. You might all still remember, that not too long ago, their narrative and angles on the Nader Saab case miraculously did a U-turn. After raising concerns put up by the investigation, like all other media outlets, MTV quickly reversed their position a few days later, making flashy reports with animations and special effects in an attempt to discredit the claims posed by some witnesses, people involved with the case and other TV stations.
I’m not saying that’s what happened then, it’s just that there’s a pattern of MTV U-turning suddenly, and it’s amazing to think that a lawsuit raised by Eden Bay might actually reveal how that process might work.
It’s a sad indicator of how terrible the state of the media industry in Lebanon is, where stations might resort to things like making up their own ratings, or outright offering paid reversal in their position concerning the embattled corporation of the week.
Makes you wonder how much of the content is genuine, and eager to see what this lawsuit might reveal.
I’d hate to sound like a broken record, but MTV’s recurring insult to our intelligence doesn’t seem to be letting up.
It’s been well-documented that MTV prides itself on claiming it’s the number 1 TV station, even though it consistently ranks 3rd behind LBCI and Al Jadeed. They’ve been causing a fuss every time their ratings dip, like the whole “sharmoota” incident when MTV was outright cursing LBCI and calling women participating in a dating show “prostitutes”, all this because that show was crushing the ratings of their “Dancing with the Stars” show.
The Latest Chapter: IPSOS is Rigging Numbers
MTV aired this “report” last night. It claims that it has “evidence” that IPSOS is rigging ratings to benefit MTV competitors. The “evidence” they presented, is this cropped graph they showed:
It was based on a few minutes of outage on the Nilesat satellite. MTV considers their sinking to 0.2% (from about 3.8%) for a few minutes, while LBC’s dips considerably from almost 6% to just over 2.2%/. The MTV people thought that this means that the data is being rigged…
Given that this is the same channel that believes costume parties “satanic rituals” and “digital drugs” are an epidemic “affecting 200,000 people in Turkey”, it’s no surprise a detail so basic slipped their minds.
LBCI and LDC are two separate LBC feeds. LBCI is terrestrial, and LDC is via satellite (Nilesat). MTV is just on Nilesat. So, when weather conditions knocked the Nilesat feed off for a few minutes, MTV is definitely gonna dip close to 0%, since it only broadcasts via satellite. LBCI is part terrestrial, so that kept going, while the significant dip was the LDC satellite feed via Nilesat which went down just like MTV’s did.
That’s all the evidence they presented for that “report”. It’s kinda sad if you think how little they prepare their bluffs, given the authority and assumption of “criminal intent” when the reality is they just don’t know how to read a graph…
Why are they Doing This Now? Elections Season!
When MTV went crazy about the “sharmoota” stuff, the real reason wasn’t their sudden conversion to piety and humility in dresscode. It was that a lighthearted dating show was getting more viewers than their super expensive franchised show.
This time though, the reason is far more sinister. Elections in Lebanon are just a few months away, and the sad truth is that politicians pay top dollar to appear on talk shows on these stations. You would be priced a lot less if you’re third. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if you could dupe people into thinking you’re number 1? That’d be a lot of extra money, just ahead of the elections when politicians would have their chequebooks and pens at the ready.
For shame.
Why I Do This
You guys might think that it’s weird I go to such lengths to debunk and fact check the fake news MTV tries to peddle on unsuspecting viewers, and ultimately advertisers and politicians. The reason is because MTV is a mouthpiece of the intolerance and backwardness Lebanon needs to get over. They’re the people who start a smear campaign against some unknown taxpayer tweeting something silly, to put them in jail for a week. They’re the people who defame, shame and endanger communities they see as “undesirable” to their ultra-conservative base. They’re the reason you can’t have a psy-trance event in nature anymore without being arrested and smeared on TV. They’re the station that sides with a doctor being tried for malpractice, not the victim, a mother of two.
The misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia and stoking of sectarian fears as well as their unwillingness to correct false or factually inaccurate claims, are a threat to many of our ways of life. Why should a crooked TV station trying to jack prices for appearing on their shows decide what concerts and parties people can hold? Or what they can tweet or share with their friends, without being the targets of witch hunts that rob people of their freedom and dignity, so that MTV can try and get a bump in ratings?
As long as MTV is fighting against civil rights, equality and freedom of expression, I’ll always be here waiting to debunk their lies and counter their hate speech.
You guys loved the ratings posts I shared last month in trying to understand why TV stations’ behavior was becoming so juvenile. This week, IPSOS and Nielsen released their Television Audience Measurement Results for 2016. So, I picked out a few of their slides and I’m publishing them here with a couple of comments of my own on some. I feel this paints a clearer photo of the TV landscape, with some cool numbers on TV, smartphone, Internet and Social Meida penetration in Lebanon.
TV Users in Lebanon
Smartphone Users
Social Media Penetration
Ad Revenue Share in Lebanon vs Other Countries
What’s interesting is how low the share of digital ad spending is in Lebanon. Globally, in the US, UK and Western Europe, digital gets 36–39% of the share, tied to or slightly above TV ad spending. Even in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) it’s at 17% whereas in Lebanon it’s at a tiny 8% compared to 46% for TV…
(I wish digital ad spending would increase, it’d make monetizing online projects and expanding them a lot more attractive)
Lebanese TV Stations
So, the MTV squad was right, it does make the most money when it comes to ads. However, if you combine the different LBC channels (LBCI, Drama, LB2) it still makes the most money from selling ads, with Al Jadeed a close second. Sorry guys!
Top Stations by Genre Throughout the Day
The top 3 stations rank first in the three “genres” studied when it comes to all-day totals. Al Jadeed is close first in political news, MTV is a close first in Social and Cultural programs and LBCI is way ahead of all of them in Series.
Local TV vs Satellite TV Performance
However, the only time local TV beats Satellite ones is from 7PM to 11PM.
Top Station by Genre at Peak Time
Accounting for that, the “top channels” at peak time are somewhat different.
News
Personally, I just watch local channels for the news, and here’s the evening news viewership slide.
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