Al-Jazeera English Goes Live

Pan-Arab TV Network's English Broadcast Lacks Major U.S. Distribution

(CBS/AP)  Al-Jazeera says the messages and images are newsworthy. It has promoted its broadcasts to U.S. officials as the ideal venue to address the Muslim world.

Still, the station is burdened with a reputation among Americans as anti-United States — an image Al-Jazeera insists is unfair. Its staffers argue that while the station has an Arab viewpoint, its coverage is balanced.

At least for now, most Americans will have no chance to see Al-Jazeera to judge for themselves. Al-Jazeera's list of U.S. carriers included none of the major U.S. cable TV providers: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications or Cablevision. Neither of the two major satellite TV providers in the United States — Dish Network and DirecTV — are carrying the network.

Some U.S. cable carriers are adopting a "show-me" policy, waiting to see what sort of reaction the station generates before agreeing to carry it, said Michael Holtzman, a spokesman for the network.

Al-Jazeera English will be available to American customers of GlobeCast, the subsidiary of a French company that offers satellite TV service.

The other companies Al-Jazeera English said it had agreements with are Fision, a digital service that will be available shortly in Houston; Jump TV, which describes itself as "the world's leading broadcaster of ethnic TV over the Internet; and VDC, a service that offers TV on the Internet to about 10,000 customers in the United States.

The broadcast will also be streamed live on Al-Jazeera English's Internet site.

Across Europe and the Middle East, Al-Jazeera English will be widely available on major cable providers in Britain, Germany, Italy and even Israel.

The launch was originally scheduled for early 2006 but was repeatedly postponed due to technical problems and licensing issues. Al-Jazeera executives said they are negotiating with carriers in the United States, Asia and elsewhere to broadcast its signal.

Al-Jazeera English hired more than 500 staffers, poaching journalists from American and British networks, including former CNN anchor Riz Khan, the BBC's David Frost and former ABC correspondent Dave Marash.

It will broadcast in high-definition TV, with its chief broadcast centers in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[grumpas]

This news is really exciting??? More of the same old drivel!! I can't wait! I quit watching news a long time ago! But, I am better informed than most American's who listen to the news! Because I read a lot and get on the internet!

[themooniac]

saw it yesterday live on the net. It's availiable thru the website, just ping the 56k web free trial link and you'll be hooked up. The broadband side is a subscription. Its always good to get the views from the other side so to speak. You can put their views and the U.S. media views together and get the complete picture. No reason to get bogged down in either sides propaganda. Actually it's a pretty slick website. English.Aljazeera.net. Ping the "TV news now" link on the right. Kinda of a BBC feel to it.

[cantshutup]

cbscrash07...

lmao crash...that's probably the best use for it, you should also try the new testement...also makes GREAT rolling papers!

[grazinggoat]

cbscrash07
were U wiping your face I guess ( U buttface!).

[sheila1346]

I think it is about time that we have an English speaking news network from the Arab standpoint. I would definitely watch it on a regular basis so that I would be able to see both sides of any issue that involves Arabs. I believe that CNN and the other major news networks that are in English have a basis just as I believe the Arab news network does. I think that anyone who wants to know the true story in the middle east needs to look at the whole picture on both networks and make up their own mind.

[marykw-2009]

While I still find it heartbreaking to discover how censored American news is...

I am over-the-top excited that Al-Jazeera news will be available in English!!! It doesn't matter, and is perhaps preferable that it's not on TV - for the past five years, as I've realized how we American's have been fed pablum through what was called 'News', I only see television as a tool for entertainment...period.

Thank God for the Internet....where I am held as an intelligent, responsible citizen of the world capable of discerning what is so... and what is not!

So...CBS...thanks at least for telling us it's available-- that's surprisingly open-minded of you and appreciated!

[titocordero]

Sandy5274

You're probably right. What I meant was I will not pay for an Al-Jazeera channel if it were not included in a basic package offered by cable or satellite TV. But come on I would watch the news on Al-Jazeera solely for entertainment purposes. Everyone knows pretty much what they will report concerning the middle east crisis, Israel, the war on terror......I think that maybe by hearing both sides of a story no matter how extreme those sides may be, maybe we can find "some" truth to this political and religous mess that threatens the whole world.

[memyselfeye-2009]

I am willing to bet that a piece of this will be rebroadcast on LinkTV, available as streaming video and on Dish and DirecTV. They have a program called Mosaic that gives uncensored feed to several Muslim and Israeli sources. They do not alalyze and comment. They only translate when required. You probably will not agree with everything said, but it is well worth while to see what that part of the world is seeing.

[sandy5274]

What you mean you wouldn't pay for "bias news",
because if you have cable or dish tv then your
already paying for it since that's the only way
you can get MSNBC and CNN and FOX News,in case
ya'll forgot that little old fact of life!
So Al-Jazeera would be just one more for your
cable company or dish company to raise your
monthly cable tv bill and gouge us viewers even
more then ever!

[Syndicate]

I use to write comments on aljazeera.com but I was banned. Probaly happened when I told them I wipe with pages from their holy book.