From CTV.CA
Al-Jazeera English-language station hits airwaves
Updated Wed. Nov. 15 2006 11:41 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
The Arabic television news channel Al-Jazeera launched its long-delayed English-language service into millions of homes today.
"It's November 15th, a new era in television news," said anchor Sami Zeidan.
In one of the first reports, the correspondent spoke of "the agony of Gaza'' as the pictures showed Palestinians scavenging for food in the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli bombardment.
The news bulletin gave less time to Wednesday's report from Israel, where a rocket attack by Palestinian militants had killed an Israeli woman.
Al-Jazeera English appeared keen to show its international reach, using live broadcasts from correspondents in Sudan's Darfur, Iran, Zimbabwe and Brazil, and breaking in with news of a tsunami striking Japan.
The controversial all-news network, which is bankrolled by Qatar's royal family, said it will reach 80 million cable and satellite TV viewers, double its initial target audience.
For now, the channel will broadcast for 12 hours a day before becoming a 24-hour news operation at the beginning of next year.
The Doha, Qatar-based broadcaster said the channel will reflect its Middle East "heritage and perspective,'' and taking advantage of the channel's "unique access to some of the world's most troubled and controversial locations.".
It hopes to woo viewers away from CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp. by giving the world's 1 billion English speakers their first chance to watch news from an Arab viewpoint.
In London, BBC Global News Director Richard Sambrook told The Associated Press that Al-Jazeera may take away some of his network's viewers, but the new channel's reach stands far below BBC World's 270 million homes.
"They've made a very confident start, which isn't surprising since they have a large budget and had a long time to prepare," Sambrook said.
But their focus on developing countries could backfire, he said.
"It will take some time to see whether they can do that and still keep broad appeal," Sambrook said.
Al-Jazeera English hasn't applied to broadcast in Canada, however, the network will be streamed live on its Internet site english.aljazeera.net.
Many Arabic-speaking Canadians currently watch Arabic Al-Jazeera by satellite but it appears that no major Canadian cable companies are expected to pick up the network any time soon.
No cable television companies in Canada have applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to carry the English-language network.
In 2004, the CRTC ruled that the Arabic network can be broadcast in Canada, but imposed such strict rules that cable companies were reluctant to carry the channel.
For Canadian companies to pick up the network, they would be force to start the application process all over again.
The broadcaster made its name internationally after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, when it showed exclusive footage from Osama bin Laden.
Al-Jazeera's frank Arabic news channel also rose to international prominence by angering leaders in the West and the Arab world, where it has been banned from operating in 18 countries at one time or another.
The station has broken new ground with its forthright style and coverage of taboo political, religious and social subjects.
The broadcaster has also given a fresh voice to opposition figures and Israeli officials who were previously absent from other Arab networks.
But Bush administration officials and other American conservatives have branded the network as the propaganda arm for al-Qaeda and other Islamic radical groups, and have also criticized its often graphic coverage of bloodshed in Iraq.
The network has responded by saying its messages are newsworthy and that it is the ideal venue for U.S. officials to address the Muslim world.
While the channel will be widely available on major cable providers in Britain, Germany, Italy and even Israel, 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, nor the two major satellite TV providers, Dish Network and DirecTV.
Al-Jazeera English will be available to American customers of GlobeCast, the subsidiary of a French company that offers satellite TV service.
The channel also has deals in place with 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 launch was originally scheduled for early 2006 but a string of delays including technical problems and licensing issues repeatedly postponed the date.
Al-Jazeera executives said they are negotiating with carriers in the United States, Asia and elsewhere to broadcast its signal.
Al-Jazeera, which employs some 800 people, poached some of the world's most renowned journalists to work for the new channel, including former BBC reporter Rageh Omaar, former CNN anchor Riz Khan, the BBC's David Frost and former ABC correspondent Dave Marash.
It will broadcast in high-definition TV with four chief hubs in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
With files from The Associated Press
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