Al-Jazeera English to be cut off in the USA on August 20th

[FAH1223]

Ah, so it is because of business interests, nothing political? Hmm.. Seems odd.

Well, they have been trying to get Al Jazeera English on to US Cable for the past 6 years with limited success (Only in Toledo, OH, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington DC markets). So when Current TV was up for grabs, they put $500 million down and said they'd put AJE there. But after a couple months, they started to think about ratings and all that stuff and decided to make a new channel dedicated for a US audience. They want to become very American friendly to weave their way into the American market. The best way is to dedicate their operations to the US soley and report from here specifically.

That way Al Jazeera isn't seen as the shady, 'anti American' channel the Bush administration painted it as back in the early 2000s when they aired the Osama Bin Laden tapes they receieved.

[Insomniac]

I guess that makes sense. I thought there were some shady politicking behind the scenes. So now, America is going to have an American AJ which serves the American citizens' confirmation bias. In short, no real diversity. American media industry is very weird.

[FAH1223]

I guess that makes sense. I thought there were some shady politicking behind the scenes. So now, America is going to have an American AJ which serves the American citizens' confirmation bias. In short, no real diversity. American media industry is very weird.

Exactly. I have a feeling it's going to suck. AJE despite its clear intended biases is pretty good.

[AbdiJohnson]

Their biggest mistake was not giving the English network a new name, preferably a non Arab one

The biggest media market is the US. If you are trying to broadcast there, be smart about it. They will never come close to FOX, MSNBC, CNN or ABC.

They failed before even starting

[AbdiJohnson]

AJE being cut off in the US makes no difference if you think of it. Americans don't care for international news

The average American viewer doesn't care what happens beyond it's own borders

[FAH1223]

AJE being cut off in the US makes no difference if you think of it. Americans don't care for international news

The average American viewer doesn't care what happens beyond it's own borders

40% of the international audience watching AJE via their live stream came from the United States.

Yeah, the average American doesn't care about news outside their borders but a lot of the more educated folks living on the east and west coasts are interested in global affairs.

[AbdiJohnson]

The thing is AJE is available practically everywhere on TV whereas it is barred in the US. So its only natural for 40% of it to come from Americans. Other people don't need to watch it online unless of course they aren't near a TV

AJ America will fail. What makes it worse is that its not going to be on full cable. Its going to be available through satellite or digital cable subscriptions. Right?

I can't even see it competing with the local WXYZ FOX channels

[FAH1223]

The thing is AJE is available practically everywhere on TV whereas it is barred in the US. So its only natural for 40% of it to come from Americans. Other people don't need to watch it online unless of course they aren't near a TV

AJ America will fail. What makes it worse is that its not going to be on full cable. Its going to be available through satellite or digital cable subscriptions. Right?

I can't even see it competing with the local WXYZ FOX channels

Its going to be available on full cable, just not all plans and companies. I have Verizon FIOS at home and will have it. Pretty much anyone that had Current TV before will have Al Jazeera America on the same channel starting tomorrow.