BEIRUT, Lebanon - Orange TV (OTV) has called a shareholders meeting for May 7 to approve a $12-million capital increase, and plans after months of delay to launch a few hours of daily news broadcasts late next month. OTV had planned to commence the news show in January, and despite the shrinking television-ad market in Lebanon, some industry analysts believe the station still has an opportunity to capture a local audience if programming is not too in thrall to OTV's godfather, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun.

The May 7 extraordinary meeting, called for 4 p.m. at the Habtoor Grand Hotel in Sin el Fil, will ratify the influx of capital generated by share sales, said OTV board member Souraya Machnouk.

The OTV holding, which began with basic capital of $2 million, projected it would raise $40 million through phased issues of $10 shares, mainly to Lebanese expatriates. The fundraising and broadcasting plans were pushed back when OTV general manager Roy Hachem suffered multiple fractures in a car accident in West Africa early this year while peddling the shares to the Lebanese Diaspora.

When the channel goes on air, the news broadcasts are slated to run nightly at 8 p.m. - with reruns at midnight - in late May from OTV's Mansourieh studios, which should be completed in three weeks. In late June the station should be ready to transmit a full schedule of programming, including children's shows and cultural offerings, Machnouk said.

The project remains closely associated to Aoun, media observers say, despite OTV management's insistence on the station's neutrality. Machnouk, Hachem and news director Jean Aziz have all promised the station's fare will avoid slavish parroting of FPM positions, with Machnouk saying OTV will present the news "as objectively as possible, as if that were to exist."

When Hachem's accident occurred, he was traveling with FPM member and Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil.

"So far they have not been able to disassociate themselves from Aoun," Jihad Fakhreddine, head of media research at the Pan-Arab Research Council, told The Daily Star on Sunday. "They will not be able to sell ... the notion that Orange TV is not going to reflect the line of thinking of the Aoun movement. Right now it seems there's a tendency to see one color."

Regardless of OTV's political identity, the Lebanese television market can still accommodate another station with the same mass-appeal format as LBC or Future TV, said Mazen Moussallem, managing director of the Tree Ad agency.

"If they come up with a beautiful [programming] grid, I think there is room for another general-entertainment channel," he said. "If they invest in a beautiful grid, they might generate sufficient income to break even. It all depends on the grid, actually."

Even with advertising spending down across media in the wobbly economic climate, OTV could well earn enough of a market share to prosper if its programming holds viewers' attention - Fakhreddine cited the example of LBC, which, in spite of its founding by the Lebanese Forces, has succeeded in attracting viewers from across sectarian lines, unlike rivals Al Manar and NBN, he said.

"Even though your ID may be politically biased, it doesn't mean that people won't watch you if they have different political views," Fakhreddine said. "It depends on how intelligent the grid is, and interesting and informative. Right now Lebanon definitely needs a media that reflects a change in Lebanon. They are entering the market at a very uncertain period, [but] they have a golden opportunity." - Daily Star