Comcast backs away from Arab net (Al-Jazeera) [Archive]

Darkman

11-14-06, 04:11 PM

Meow .. Another Al-Jazeera thread.. Yummie! :p

ebaltz,
Not such a big deal anyhow, cuz Comcast never comitted themself to AJI previously anyhow...

Meanwhile.. from the Net:

----
....Al-Jazeera has been a lightening rod since 9/11 thrust the region onto center stage and its English channel will certainly be viewed with suspicion in many quarters. Here’s more:

- Dave Marash, a former ABC Nightline correspondent who'll co-anchor a daily newscast, says Al-Jazeera got a black eye from the Bush administration for airing Osama bin Laden videotapes and live reports from Fallujah, Iraq.

- Al-Jazeera reported news in both cases, he says, and its journalistic "aspirations, tactics and techniques" are like those of any mainstream news outlet. "No holds barred, political ideology, party affiliation. When people actually see the product, I think a lot of that (criticism) is going to go away."

The question is, will you watch?

( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/11/14/publiceye/entry2180441.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=PublicEye_2180441 )

And here is little something that might make ebaltz, etc... even more happier ( not 100 % gauranteed of course ;) )

---
"US carriage eludes Al-Jazeera International" ( for now anyhow, i guess...if article is truly accurate.. i guess we ll have to wait and see to see if it is or NOT ;) )

Tuesday, November 14 2006, 18:24 UTC - by James Welsh

Al-Jazeera International will not be seen on TV in the United States when it launches on Wednesday.

The channel, which will launch to around 70m households worldwide on November 15, has not been able to secure carriage at launch with any cable or satellite provider in America.

Variety reports that a deal between AJI and Comcast, one of America's biggest cable operators, fell through after AJI held out for nationwide coverage when Comcast wanted to make the channel tentatively available in Detroit, which houses a large Arab-American population.

Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds39411.html

tsmacro

11-14-06, 04:20 PM

I don't really get all the hype surrounding this whole Al-Jazeera thing. Wouldn't blaming them for terrorism be kinda like shooting the messanger when he delivers bad news?:confused:

Darkman

11-14-06, 04:27 PM

Exactly tmsmarco!

On the lighter note though,

----
Britons at Al-Jazeera TV station rapped for 'drinking binges'

Posted on 11/14/2006 3:43:22 AM PST by Mrs Ivan

British staff working for the new English language Al-Jazeera channel drank so much alcohol that they were ordered to undergo special "cultural awareness" training on how to behave in a Muslim country.

Presenters and producers hired on massive taxfree salaries to launch Al-Jazeera International (AJI) were lectured by Islamic groups on " appropriate behaviour" after a series of marathon drinking sessions in Qatar, where the new service is based.

The channel's owner, the Emir of Qatar, is understood to have personally ordered the move...

----
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1738243/posts )

Darkman

11-14-06, 04:47 PM

I have not seen the Arabic Al Jazeera (in red) in the EPG for some time now. I do see all the other Arabic channels. Did E* pull it off 61.5 or just made it invisable to non-subscribing EPG's?

It's still there..

TNGTony's chart shows Al Jazeera Satellite Channel as an existing channel..
at .. 61.5, 148 and 121 locations:

Al Jazeera Satellite Channel ALJAZ 645 15 61.5°
Al Jazeera Satellite Channel ALJAZ 645 24 148°
Al Jazeera Satellite Channel ALJAZ 761 21 121°

On the right of his chart it is also shown it to be in couple of Arabic Packages...

...
Ebaltz,

Why should DISH drop Al Jazeera? - It's on their platform FOR YEARS now (as mentioned already on numerous occasions) :grin:

And more likely a very popular channel among Arabic Subscribers...

cybrsurfer

11-14-06, 05:07 PM

Comcast is not going to ad the terrorist network. Good for them. Maybe Dish will follow and not waste bandwidth on the HD version.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953878.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

They have obviously signed a contract for carrying the network. They can review whether they want to renew when the contract expires. With enough negative feedback, they probably will not renew the carriage contract when it expires.

James Long

11-14-06, 05:17 PM

They have obviously signed a contract for carrying the network. They can review whether they want to renew when the contract expires. With enough negative feedback, they probably will not renew the carriage contract when it expires.The old network is carried, but tomorrow an English language version allegedly launches.

If a channel launches and nobody carries it has it really launched?

Darkman

11-14-06, 05:36 PM

Al Jazeera International launches Wednesday; not available in India

Indiantelevision.com Team
(14 November 2006 10:00 pm)

MUMBAI: There's just a day left for the official launch of the Al Jazeera International, the English language sibling of the sometimes controversial Arabic language channel Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera International will kick off its inaugural broadcast from its headquarters in Doha, Qatar at 12 GMT tomorrow.

In English-language markets, the channel will beam down from the Astra and Eurobird satellites to DSat homes in the UK; the Globecast platform in the US; Optus in Australia; and foreign-language platform Orcus in New Zealand, informs an official release....

--- etc ----

...Broadcast across the globe, Al Jazeera English will far exceed its original launch target of 40 million cable and satellite homes. It will be distributed across all continents throughout the world and in addition to cable and satellite will be available on broadband IPTV, ADSL, terrestrial and mobile phone platforms.

Not surprisingly the channel has got a very limited distribution in the US after it was "blanked" by big satellite players like News Corp's DirecTV and Charlie Ergen's Echostar and cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner. Al Jazeera English will only be available to subscribers of the GlobeCast Network - a subsidiary of France Telecom that carries channels from all parts of the world and services mainly non-Americans.

Among the European satellite and cable platforms to carry the channel are Canal Sat and TPS in France, Kabel Deutschland and Kabel BW in Germany, HK Broadband in Hong Kong, YES TV in Israel, Sky Italia, Astro Malaysia, Canal Digital in The Netherlands, ORCUS in New Zealand, Canal Digitaal in Nordic Region and Sky Guide 514 in United Kingdom.

----
hehe, even Israel will carry Al Jazeera International on it's own YES TV :lol: (Please do NOT ask: "How come even Israel has YES TV, but DISH doesn't") :)

as to:

...it was "blanked" by big satellite players like News Corp's DirecTV and Charlie Ergen's Echostar and cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner.
I can only add - "blanked" .. CURRENTLY anyhow.. - Time will show what the future brings! ;)

After all, Who really said that it's a NECESSITY to carry this channel (or any other one for that matter) on the day it's launched ;)

Darkman

11-14-06, 06:43 PM

Al-Jazeera English ready for debut - but not in U.S.

By Gail Shister
The Philadelphia Inquirer
(MCT)

It's a drag to be fenced out of your own backyard, says Dave Marash.

Marash, Washington anchor for Al-Jazeera English, is disappointed that the Qatar-based news network - scheduled to launch Wednesday - will reach more than 80 million homes worldwide, but none on U.S. cable.

AJE (formerly known as Al-Jazeera International), the English spin-off of controversial Arab-Language Al-Jazeera Network, will be carried here on four obscure outlets: GlobeCast; Jump TV; VDC and Fision, AJE announced Tuesday.

It will also be streamed live on aljazeera/english.net.

GlobeCast is a satellite network; Jump TV and VDC are on the Internet....

---
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/television/16012455.htm )

cj9788

11-14-06, 06:57 PM

I personaly visit the AJ website every other day. I find it entertaining and offers a glimps to the maddness of the other side. I would not mind if E* adds it. If they do will it be available with AEP on 119 or 110 or do I need 61.5?

Darkman

11-14-06, 07:22 PM

I would not mind if E* adds it. If they do will it be available with AEP on 119 or 110 or do I need 61.5?
That is a Million Dollar question cj9788! (.. as the channel is NOT even on E*'s platform) :)

Also.. found this interesting read just now:

NZ Herald:

Launch of al Jazeera will bring new perspective to TV news

1.00pm Wednesday November 15, 2006
By Guy Adams

Lights, cameras, salaam.

In the heart of old London, a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace, the inhabitants of a state-of-the-art TV studio are preparing to make broadcasting history....

--
...The new channel, al-Jazeera International, already boasts star quality.

A host of big names, from Sir David Frost to former BBC and ITV stalwarts Rageh Omaar and Darren Jordon have been poached from rival British broadcasters....

--
...In the USA, meanwhile, AJI has signalled its intention to do battle with the mighty CNN, after poaching its sought-after Atlanta-based anchorman Riz Khan to front a daily news programme from Washington.

The channel certainly has money to back up its ambitious aims.

Bankrolled by the Emir of Qatar to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, it launches with a total of 18 bureaux around the world, and no less than five hundred staff of its own....

--
...Four studios - in London, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Washington DC - will allow AJI to "follow the Sun," broadcasting around the world via satellite TV and the internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"This will be the last great adventure in TV news," says the station's Europe Correspondent, Alan Fisher.

"It sounds like a terrible cliche, but the world is getting smaller, and there's a huge untapped market out there that isn't served by a rolling news station. I'd put that potential audience in tens, if not hundreds of millions."

It's a bold claim.

But al-Jazeera has made a habit of living up to the hype that has surrounded it since the original Arabic station hit the airwaves just ten years ago...

etc...

---
( The entire article (LONG) is at the following source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10410880 )

James Long

11-14-06, 07:29 PM

Comcast is not going to ad the terrorist network. Good for them. Maybe Dish will follow and not waste bandwidth on the HD version.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953878.html?categoryid=14&cs=1A reminder that at this point E* has not even HINTED that they will be carrying ANY English version of Al-Jazeera. It is all speculation based on Al-Jazeera's reporting (which did not name E* as a potential partner).
Previous Thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=69016)

Darkman

11-14-06, 08:00 PM

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Al-Jazeera's English-language network is set to begin operation on Wednesday without any distribution by a major cable or satellite system in the United States.

The all-news network, based in Doha, Qatar, said it would be available to computer users via a broadband Internet connection. But despite months of trying and delays in its launch date, it named only four companies available in the United States that would offer it....

--- etc ----

...Al-Jazeera English will be available to customers of GlobeCast, the subsidiary of a French company that offers satellite TV service costing around $300 to install. 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 U.S.

Elsewhere around the globe, Al-Jazeera English said the picture is brighter. The network said it would be available via cable or satellite in more than 80 million homes, or double its launch target of 40 million.

---
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/16012709.htm )

JM Anthony

11-14-06, 08:17 PM

While I doubt I'm make a steady diet of it, I'd definitely check it out. With more and more of our news being held in the hands of an ever smaller band of moguls, I'm interested in hearing more divergent views. I'm also of the opinion that you, "keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

John

pdxsam

11-14-06, 08:30 PM

I read something today which said Dish was willing to carry it but they wanted to package it with the arabic Al Jazeera but A-J-I wanted the channel carried in an AT package.

Darkman

11-14-06, 08:37 PM

Is it appropriate to have "(aka Al-Terrorist)" in the Thread name there?

......
Some more details about the channel:

Frost opens with Blair in al-Jazeera English launch

Owen Gibson and Oliver Burkeman
Wednesday November 15, 2006
The Guardian

Sir David Frost has revealed how he investigated al-Jazeera's credentials with his own high-level contacts in Whitehall and Washington before agreeing to sign up to its long-delayed English language channel, which launches today.

In an interview in today's G2, Sir David, who is scheduled to welcome Tony Blair as the first guest to his show on Friday, said he initially had qualms about signing for the broadcaster after trenchant criticism from the American right.

"So I deliberately checked out, with Whitehall and with Washington, that there were no links with al-Qaida, for instance, that sort of thing," he said. "And it was not really a surprise that there were no such links, because Qatar, the proprietor of al-Jazeera, is also our most important ally in the Middle East."

---- etc -----

...Yesterday it was revealed that the US cable network Comcast had pulled out of talks to carry the channel, citing lack of capacity.

It hopes to offer a new, Middle Eastern perspective on world events as an alternative to CNN and BBC World. But it will not be available in America via either EchoStar, Comcast or Rupert Murdoch's DirecTV at launch, although US viewers will be able to tune in via the GlobeCast satellite....

( The entire article is at the following source: http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1948048,00.html )

Darkman

11-14-06, 08:44 PM

I read something today which said Dish was willing to carry it but they wanted to package it with the arabic Al Jazeera but A-J-I wanted the channel carried in an AT package.
If that was true, that could be interpreted then, i guess, as DISH is trying to be too greedy, trying generate extra revenues through additional new subscriptions cuz of this particular channel.. instead of adding it to more appropriate (for English language News channel) package(s), such as AT one(s) ;)

rasheed

11-14-06, 08:45 PM

Just some factual notes...

Dish has always has the ability to block (even from the RED All Chan display) channels. This is true with many international channels (not just Arabic ones). They only show up if you have a subscription in those channel regions. Of course, many customers wish they would do this with PPV offerings, but obviously that is business counter-intuitive. Arabic is one of their most popular international offerings. It is primarily music and entertainment (dramas, soaps, etc.), but there are some existing news sources there too. They have been on the free preview international (573) from time to time.

The issue with this new channel is that it is in English, and even if added to the Arabic tier -- it doesn't really make sense. It is more like CCTV in English as a comparison probably.

There is also the HD version, which is interesting from a technical point of view, but I don't think anyone has identified it as a priority for the HD metal packages or as an international HD channel (currently this doesn't exist as a particular category). If it does go as an international subscription channel, it will be 148/61.5 recommendation.

Rasheed

Darkman

11-14-06, 08:48 PM

.. and if it ever goes as AT package channel- it will more likely end up at 110 or 119 :)

Darkman

11-14-06, 09:07 PM

...At 1200 GMT (8 a.m. in Manila), Al-Jazeera English -- only renamed on Tuesday from Al-Jazeera International -- was to begin broadcasting from studios in Doha, Qatar, with 12 hours of live programming, which it plans to boost to 24 hours on January 1....

---

...Al-Jazeera English is expected to be accessible through satellite receivers and on the Internet.

But the channel said on Tuesday it would not be available on cable in the US for at least a year as "there is no free space for us on the US cable network," according to the channel's commercial director Lindsey Oliver...

--
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=56259 )

SummitAdvantageRetailer

11-14-06, 10:38 PM

Darkman

11-14-06, 10:49 PM

Osama (not Usama) :)

As to Comcast... i guess they planned / were expected to carry Al Jazeera English ... but the talks with AJ English broke down (reportedly) .. and the plans to carry Al Jazeera fell through...
I guess if someone wants to call that "they drop the channel" - it's their opinion, choice and right.. That's all :)

army1

11-14-06, 11:33 PM

Darkman

11-15-06, 12:08 AM

Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 15, 2006

--

...Anticipating the skepticism of potential U.S. viewers, Al-Jazeera has hired well-known Western reporters to be the face of its English-language channel, among them Marash (who is Jewish); British TV icon Sir David Frost; former CNN International anchor Riz Khan; and ex-marine spokesman Rushing, whose forthright approach made him a hit among reporters who interviewed him in Doha, Qatar, during the run-up to the war in Iraq in 2003.

Marash, Rushing and Khan will work out of Al-Jazeera International's Washington headquarters, which will provide four hours of the new channel's 24-hour programming. The channel's London bureau, where Frost is based, will offer four hours; five more will come from the channel's anchor desk in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Muslim nation of Malaysia. The remaining 11 hours will emanate from Doha, Qatar, in the moderate Muslim country where Al-Jazeera and its new English-language channel are based....

---
( The entire article (quite long BUT interesting read) is at the following source: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/15/NETWORK.TMP ))

James Long

11-15-06, 12:18 AM

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117953878.html?categoryid=14&cs=1From that article (emphasis added)Al-Jazeera also had hoped to get carriage on one of the two major satellite TV operators, DirecTV or Dish Network. Dish wants to carry AJI on its Arab-language tier, where it carries the Arabic Al-Jazeera. DirecTV doesn't carry either net, but said it is "keeping options open."It doesn't look like AT carriage or HD carriage was on the table at E*.

(Thread moved since we're now discussing all carriers.)

Darkman

11-15-06, 02:05 AM

The Arabic television news channel al-Jazeera is due to begin broadcasting to the world in English on Wednesday.

The channel, which will initially broadcast for 12 hours a day, becomes a 24-hour news operation from 1 January.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42316000/jpg/_42316218_aljazeera_afp203b.jpg
Al-Jazeera in English is launching after months of delays

--
The FULL story is at the following source from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6149310.stm

Darkman

11-15-06, 02:57 AM

GUY DIXON
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Spanning the globe with high-definition broadcast centres in Washington, London, Kuala Lumpur and Doha, Qatar, al-Jazeera English is finally set to launch today, taking CNN and the BBC head-on. It's the new English-language offspring of the Arabic news network, which has itself been prominently in the news, with American groups such as the Accuracy in the Media calling it "terror television" while, according to al-Jazeera, it has been referred to by some Arab critics as part of an "American conspiracy" to tear "apart the Arab ranks."

Yet with today's intense media interest in al-Jazeera English and the unflagging fortunes of the emir of Qatar reportedly pumping tens of millions of dollars into the operation, it's all a world away for most Canadians, since major Canadian cable companies are not expected to pick up the network any time soon.

...

---
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061115.wxjazeera15/BNStory/Entertainment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20061115.wxjazeera15

Ray_Clum

11-15-06, 04:18 AM

I wonder if the channel on Globecast will be FTA or encrypted. If FTA, I may check it out on my setup. If encrypted... oh well...

Darkman

11-15-06, 06:45 AM

per rainman's words (.. over at Sadoun's forum) - "was showing a launch count down this morning on IA5. should start arround 7am est."
http://www.sadoun.net/forums/american-tv/5206-al-jazeera-english-version-finds-hurdles-bid-air-u-s-2.html

.. Where IA5 = 97 West = at Globecast Platform there :)

P.S. Should be working by now i guess.. Right on time! :D ( i ll check on it later on today )

jrbdmb

11-15-06, 10:13 AM

What's the hype with Al-Jazeera?! They aired Usama videos when other news outlets didn't but do they spew out propaganda? Is it even state-owned or operated? I guess I just don't get how Al-Jazeera is conveniently labeled a "terrorist" network. Can someone show me how they fit that description?
Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar, which is in the Middle East. There are a large number of terrorists in the Middle East. Therefore Al-Jazeera is a terrorist network. :icon_stup

Others claim that since Al Qaeda supplies video footage to Al-Jazeera, this makes the network accomplices to terrorism. But since CNN and FoxNews show this footage as well, are they also accomplices? If a member of Al Qaeda supplied a video to FoxNews first, and FoxNews shows it, will they then be considered a "terrorist network?"

The real question is whether Al-Jazeera's coverage of terrorism is sympathetic or encouraging to the Islamic terrorist movment. I don't know enough on this issue to render an opinion, and I doubt that too many in this thread know either.

cdub998

11-15-06, 10:29 AM

Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar, which is in the Middle East. There are a large number of terrorists in the Middle East. Therefore Al-Jazeera is a terrorist network. :icon_stup

Others claim that since Al Qaeda supplies video footage to Al-Jazeera, this makes the network accomplices to terrorism. But since CNN and FoxNews show this footage as well, are they also accomplices? If a member of Al Qaeda supplied a video to FoxNews first, and FoxNews shows it, will they then be considered a "terrorist network?"

The real question is whether Al-Jazeera's coverage of terrorism is sympathetic or encouraging to the Islamic terrorist movment. I don't know enough on this issue to render an opinion, and I doubt that too many in this thread know either.

:righton: :joy: Agreed!!

Darkman

11-15-06, 04:33 PM

I checked it out today on IA5 .. So far.. excelent, very professional News channel in English..

Shimon Peres was on (Live from Israel) , etc...

Nice to have such an alternative unique News channel..

People who are interested in World news and events WILL like this one :)

ticoman

11-15-06, 04:43 PM

I checked it out today on IA5 .. So far.. excelent, very professional News channel in English..

Sharon was on (Live from Israel) , etc...

Nice to have such an alternative unique News channel..

People who are interested in World news and events WILL like this one :)

Agree...so far so good....a different angle.... I wonder if Dish is going to offer it soon...???

Darkman

11-15-06, 04:55 PM

Reportedly, not currently anyhow .. as mentioned in this thread:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=70141

Darkman

11-15-06, 05:14 PM

Al-Jazeera's English channel opens small:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/16020865.htm

This Is Doha:
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/003962.html

Darkman

11-15-06, 08:20 PM

I wonder if the channel on Globecast will be FTA or encrypted. If FTA, I may check it out on my setup. If encrypted... oh well...
You can check it out!

It's FTA .. and should remain FTA!

According to Globecast's Al Jazeera English's new page anyhow:
http://www.globecastwtv.com/
http://www.globecastwtv.com/ch_al_jazeera_intl.htm

They are saying there the channel is FTA!

Good for Globecast! :D

And Charlie's loss i guess for not carrying the channel (currently anyhow) ;)

quizzer

11-15-06, 08:45 PM

is there anyway we can watch it online for free???

if yes how???

Darkman

11-15-06, 08:45 PM

16th November 2006, 9:30 WST

Australians will be able to watch Middle Eastern broadcaster al-Jazeera’s new English-language channel before the end of the month.

Al-Jazeera English, whose Arabic parent network achieved notoriety for airing videos of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, begins broadcasting today.

But Australians will have to wait a week or two before being able to view the new station, to be carried by Sydney-based multicultural digital satellite broadcaster UBI World TV.

UBI World TV expects to start screening the channel later this month....

--
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=28&ContentID=13240 )

Darkman

11-15-06, 08:48 PM

is there anyway we can watch it online for free???

if yes how???
Currently only...

It's Free preview on line.. But the worst quality - Modem's quality stream is currently in Free Trial Mode..

All options are here:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1EBB4C7F-7F2E-4257-A04C-56678862E31A.htm

Broadband, Jump TV, etc - are Subscription services.... :(

Darkman

11-15-06, 08:52 PM

English Al-Jazeera delayed in Israel

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND AP

The controversial Arab network Al-Jazeera launched its English-language version around the world Wednesday, but not in Israel.

Contractual details have delayed the start of Al-Jazeera's English-language broadcasts here, but cable service providers said the channel would be available in Israel by the end of December.

American distribution has also been limited. While Al-Jazeera English can now reach more than 80 million homes around the world, it still has no major US distribution, leaving viewers there unable to watch the channel branded by some as biased against the US.

The network has also been criticized in many Israeli quarters for presenting an unbalanced, highly critical picture of the Jewish state's actions. At the same time, it features Israeli officials and perspectives usually lacking in Arab media coverage of the region.

In fact, the publicity campaign for the Al-Jazeera English station lists Israel's YES satellite service as one of the new international carriers of the Dubai-based network....

----
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1162378407388&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull )

Darkman

11-16-06, 03:37 AM

--- etc ----

....For all the hoopla surrounding Al-Jazeera English, known as AJE, many viewers found the broadcast subdued and straightforward. There were no grainy hostage videos or Osama bin Laden diatribes, the kind of reports that created the Arabic-language version's notoriety. The channel broadcast for only 12 hours Wednesday; it hopes to begin 24-hour broadcasting in January.

Viewers saw in-depth reports on subjects that ranged from a tsunami scare in Japan to the Darfur crisis in Sudan.

"It looks and feels very much like BBC and Sky News," said Lawrence Pintak, director of the Cairo-based Adham Center for Television Journalism, referring to two British satellite broadcasts. "The story selection and approach is very akin to the BBC, and the emphasis on Africa is definitely not similar to Al-Jazeera. The real test will be how they'll cover a major story involving the Arab world."....

---- etc ----

---
( The entire article is at the following source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003432976_jazeera16.html )

P.S. Moderator(s), how about renaming this thread somewhat.. maybe to something like "Al Jazeera English debuts" or something like that...
To reflect it's content being somewhat of a wider nature... (not just Comcast vs. Al Jazeera) ;)

Ray_Clum

11-16-06, 04:10 AM

You can check it out!

It's FTA .. and should remain FTA!

According to Globecast's Al Jazeera English's new page anyhow:
http://www.globecastwtv.com/
http://www.globecastwtv.com/ch_al_jazeera_intl.htm

They are saying there the channel is FTA!

Good for Globecast! :D

And Charlie's loss i guess for not carrying the channel (currently anyhow) ;)

I rescanned the transponder last night and it came in clear. FTA. Looks very professional, with a definate different world view that CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc. My only question is - will the coverage of certain middle east events be different between AJE and AJA (English v. Arabic) like the differences between their websites? Time will tell, but since I don't have AJA and don't speak Arabic, I couldn't tell anyway...

PBowie

11-16-06, 10:44 AM

I have not seen the Arabic Al Jazeera (in red) in the EPG for some time now. I do see all the other Arabic channels. Did E* pull it off 61.5 or just made it invisable to non-subscribing EPG's?

Thanks alot to all you who threatened to cancell E* over the English Al Jazeera - you may have just took the freedom of choice away from your fellow Americans. I hope you are all feeling proud of yourselves. Now go stick your heads back in the sand :p

When did we have freedom of choice ??
Im getting my distant networks turned off because News corp would not reach an agreement with E*

never had freedom of choice-if we did I could drop all the shopping,spanish,religious channels off my package !

Darkman

11-16-06, 08:04 PM

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Frost opens with Blair in al-Jazeera English launch

Sir David Frost has revealed how he investigated al-Jazeera's credentials with his own high-level contacts in Whitehall and Washington before agreeing to sign up to its long-delayed English language channel, which launched yesterday.

Sir David, who is scheduled to welcome Tony Blair as the first guest to his show on Friday, said he initially had qualms about signing for the broadcaster after trenchant criticism from the American right...
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7595/davidfrosteo3.jpg http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/08/blairtonyPA030706_228x292.jpg
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_4668153 )

Darkman

11-16-06, 08:19 PM

17th November 2006, 6:33 WST

The journalist covering Australia for Middle East broadcaster Al-Jazeera's new English language channel says he will be looking for the stories that currently go untold...

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( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=333970 )

Darkman

11-17-06, 10:20 AM

The BBC News website looks at what the blogosphere makes of the new al-Jazeera English-language channel's take on Africa.

Some examples:

"Impressed!" "Consciously global." "CNN has competition!" "Propaganda!" "A poor BBC World" "Finally!" are how some of the voices in the blogosphere reacted to the launch of al-Jazeera English this week.

...

"When you need propaganda now, CNN and al-Jazeera are there for you 24/7!"

... etc...

( The entire article is at the following source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6158518.stm )

Darkman

11-17-06, 10:26 AM

Friday November 17 2006 16:49:02 PM BDT

Globecastwtv.com

Al-Jazeera International brodcasting their 24 hours news program in English from yesterday the 15th of November 2006. This brodcasting can be seen on Globecast World TV sate; it's channel 463. This news channel simultanously programming from their studios from Washington,DC, London, Kualalampur and Doha . Although major U.S. satelite distributors refused to brodcast this channel in the United States, Globecast World TV providing this service for its U.S. viewers. Golbecast provider can be contacted online(Globecastwtv.com) for service. This English Aljazeera is also available online with a monthly fee.

Another channel available for U.S. viewrs is Bridges TV the only American Islamic Channel on channel 505.

Globecsat World TV also providing BTV World(channel 704) and STV USA(Channel:058) and two Indian Bangla Channel Akash Bangla and Tara Music. Two Indian movie and music programming ASC and ASC Extra also available from Globecast World TV.

Other important channels provided by Globecast are Russia Today(24 hours English newsl and Euronews(24 hours english news).
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Globecastwtv.com
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http://www.globecastwtv.com/images/al_jazeera/pr_aljazeera.gif

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Source: http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/view.php?hidDate=2006-11-17&hidType=INE&hidRecord=0000000000000000137458

Darkman

11-17-06, 10:43 AM

How will English Al-Jazeera be received?
http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2006/11/17/newsopinion/hjjdiiicjhiefc.txt

Darkman

11-17-06, 08:18 PM

I think this one could be for you... :)
http://www.friendsofaljazeera.org

http://www.friendsofaljazeera.org/files/images/cnn_watch.gif

Darkman

11-18-06, 12:19 PM

November 18, 2006
by Charley Reese

Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hates so passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, of course, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willing to carry it.

The British Broadcasting Corp. had a man watch the first day's broadcast (it's being distributed in Europe) and gave it a rave review: accurate, but grim

Since American politicians have involved us so deeply in the Middle East, the American public is entitled to see the truth of what's going on over there. The public can't get that from American television, which sanitizes its reports. Al-Jazeera shows you the grim reality. When the Israelis kill children, they show you the bodies and the weeping mothers. They show you all the ugly truth about Israeli and American policies and actions in the Middle East. They show you what war looks like.

---- etc ----

The entire article is at the following source:
Here: http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=26857

Darkman

11-18-06, 11:10 PM

Al-Jazeera International launched this week. Though currently denied official access in US, channel looking to provide alternative to BBC, CNN, and to broadcast new perspective:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3329685,00.html

conman2k

11-19-06, 05:14 PM

They are not lableed the ‘terrorist’ network because they show the OBL vids – every network shows the vids – but of course not until they get the vids from the innocent Al-Jazeera network. The issue is their rather cozy relationship with the “people” who supply them the vids that are absolutely nothing more than propaganda. People should not kid themselves, and understand that there is a war against us going on here. Saying there is not does not change it one bit. It is just more propaganda.

What's the hype with Al-Jazeera?! They aired Usama videos when other news outlets didn't but do they spew out propaganda? Is it even state-owned or operated? I guess I just don't get how Al-Jazeera is conveniently labeled a "terrorist" network. Can someone show me how they fit that description?

And how does Comcast "drop" a channel that it never carried?

Darkman

11-20-06, 09:46 AM

Hamilton Nolan PR Week USA
20 Nov 2006 10:33

New TV news networks with truly global designs don't get launched too often.

They're hugely expensive to staff and operate, and their success involves negotiating with cable carriers in different countries with different audiences and different agendas. And frankly, the need for their existence is always questioned - at least in the beginning - more than it is applauded. So it was certifiably noteworthy when, after several months' delay, Al-Jazeera English (AJE) finally launched in mid-November, reportedly to 80 million homes worldwide. As the English-speaking offshoot of the famously Arab-centric original, the network was long-awaited by supporters, detractors, and the merely curious alike. The success or failure of the venture is more important than that of most media startups. If AJE gains a sustainable foothold in the US market, it will be the most revolutionary thing to hit the news business since Fox News Channel and will fundamentally...

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Source: http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/index.cfm?fuseaction=Login&resource=BR_News&articleType=news&article=605512

Darkman

11-20-06, 05:19 PM

There is a new voice in the clamour of international broadcasting, and it is likely to prove distinctive and influential. Al-Jazeera International, an English language channel which has emerged from the Arabic satellite broadcaster that has revolutionised the media in the Arab world, launched this week to moderate fanfare and some predictably immoderate abuse.

At first viewing, it looks and feels much more like BBC World, CNN or Sky than the Jihad TV or Osama bin Laden's YouTube decried by its detractors. But, if the record of al-Jazeera is anything to go by, its English offspring will soon be rearranging the international media furniture...

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( The entire article is at the following sources: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5d888826-76a9-11db-8284-0000779e2340.html
or at: http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2713/html/dotcoms.htm#s189303 )

Darkman

11-21-06, 12:48 AM

By BRENDAN BERNHARD
November 21, 2006

One of the many peculiar things about Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arabic-language news channel launched in 1996, is that it has brought news and information to people who, for the most part, are unable to act on it politically. It has been an oasis of free (or apparently free) expression in a desert of dictatorships...

----

Now comes Al-Jazeera English, aimed at "English-speakers worldwide," even if most Americans will be able to watch it only on the Internet. (All major American cable and satellite companies have thus far declined to carry it.) Funded, like the Arabic-language original, by the seemingly bottomless pockets of Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the new channel has offices in Washington and London as well as Doha, Qatar, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So far the emphasis has been on long-form reporting from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia more than from Europe and America; the effect, for an American viewer, has been a bit like looking at a map of the world turned upside down.

----

Al-Jazeera English made its debut last Wednesday, and it took only a couple of days to discern that although one reason for its absence from American TV screens is political, another may be that the global range and scope of its reportage, were it to find an audience here, could prove an embarrassment to the relative parochialism of CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, et al.

Of course, much the same could be said of CNN International, the version of CNN seen outside America, which is far more globally oriented than the domestic brand, even if its relentless "we are the world" politics can quickly become tiresome. But CNN International is not available on the Internet. Nor, for that matter, is BBC World, a 24-hour news channel also available outside America. So Al-Jazeera English immediately has a leg up on both CNN International and BBC World because they're not available on the Internet and it is. Score one for the Emir, the Arabs, the Ummah, and the growing influence of the Muslim viewpoint in the West. And if you think television on your laptop is a no-go, think again. More and more, TV is migrating to the Web, from where it can be beamed to i-Pods and cell phones

----

One of the first things you notice about Al-Jazeera English is the amount of money that's been spent on it. The studios and sets look glitteringly high-tech, and they are stocked with smartly dressed male and female ex-BBC staffers, both of English and Arab origin. This is also true of the original Al-Jazeera, many of whose journalists were educated and trained in the West and carry E.U., American, or Canadian passports. One critic, Mahmoun Fandy, has referred to them as "Westerners with Arab faces."

Introducing itself to a new audience, Al-Jazeera English is not afraid to appear boastful."Right now, Al-Jazeera is the new frontier," Sir David Frost, a legendary BBC interviewer now hosting Al-Jazeera's "Frost Over the World," stated...

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( The entire article (LONG) is at the following source: http://www.nysun.com/article/43884
.. and it's continued on the 2nd page here: http://www.nysun.com/article/43884?page_no=2 )

Darkman

11-22-06, 04:19 PM

November 22, 2006

CNN APES AL-JAZEERA

CNN seems to be competing with Al-Jazeera for the award of most anti-American "news" channel.

On October 18, on the program "360 With Anderson Cooper," CNN led off with a report by an Australian reporter for CNN, Michael Ware. They showed a terrorist video tape of snipers shooting and killing American soldiers in Iraq. The tape was made by the Islamic Army of Iraq, described by CNN as just an "insurgent" group...

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( The entire article (LONG) is at the following source: http://www.aim.org/aim_report/5041_0_4_0_C/ )

Darkman

11-27-06, 09:19 PM

By Gamal Nkrumah
Mon, 27 Nov 2006, 08:44:00

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Source (somewhat Long) : http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_32493.shtml

Darkman

11-29-06, 02:05 PM

Jonathan Este
London, November 30, 2006

A CURIOUS thing happened during al-Jazeera English's first week of operations. The fledgling network had sent Rageh Omaar to Dewsbury in Yorkshire to talk to Muslims about the friction between them and the rest of the community.
Dewsbury, where one-third of people are Muslims, is seen as a potential flashpoint. Omaar, a former BBC correspondent who distinguished himself with his reports from Baghdad during the 2003 invasion, was greeted by young Muslims outside a mosque with jeers and shouts of "f--- off" from the crowd. But once he explained he was from al-Jazeera, he was welcomed by the youths, who described their feelings of alienation.

Thus a foreign-owned news network was able to reach people local journalists couldn't.

Tony Blair was well aware of this when he agreed to be the first significant interviewee for al-Jazeera's British star David Frost....

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( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20843860-7582,00.html )

Darkman

11-29-06, 02:20 PM

By L. Brent Bozell III
Nov 29, 2006

...But the same left-wing crowd that claims to hate propaganda seems to be offering nothing but flowers and best wishes for the November launch of al-Jazeera English. The new network presents itself as a bold, adventurous news outlet to promote an Arab point of view, to redirect global news coverage to the point of view of the "South" -- left-wing lingo for Third World monarchs and dictators. Its sugar daddy is the emir of Qatar, seriously wealthy and very much committed to an Islamic agenda.

Questions about the network's radical ideology emerged quickly. CNN attempted to interview al-Jazeera talk show host (and former CNN International journalist) Riz Khan and discovered how al-Jazeera English won't be speaking the truth to power, especially when it comes to the subject that has brought the greatest attention to it -- terrorism. CNN's Frank Sesno asked Khan, "Is Hamas a terrorist organization?" Khan went agnostic: "I'm not one to judge." Then Sesno asked, "Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization?" Khan replied, "Same thing, you know -- I'm not going to judge."

In an outbreak of common sense, this offshoot of the infamous channel best known as a video jukebox for Osama bin Laden and other Arab terrorist fanatics has so far been rejected by every major American cable TV operator....

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( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272610140.shtml )