On April 5, 2016, the Egyptian-owned Nilesat satellite service stopped carrying broadcasts from Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV channel. The company said that the decision to stop the broadcasts was due to the channel "fomenting sectarian tension and strife." The company also informed the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications that it would stop broadcast from the government earth station in Jouret Al-Ballout "as the contract with the Lebanese state has expired in 2015."
This shutdown follows a similar decision several months ago by the Arabsat satellite service as well. As a result, Al-Manar as resorted to using a Russian satellite service, albeit one that does not have the same reach in the Arab world as Arabsat and Nilesat.
Source: Nna-leb.gov.lb, April 5, 2016; English.aawsat.com, April 7, 2016.
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