Al Jazeera acquired Current TV for $500 million in January to start an American channel, after trying unsuccessfully for years to win cable and satellite carriage for its English-language international news channel. Since distributors discourage their partners from giving programming away on the Internet, Al Jazeera will have to block American users from the live streams of its programming that tend to be popular in periods of tumult overseas. Al Jazeera America will be available to nearly half of the country's 100 million television subscribers on Tuesday afternoon when it overtakes Current TV's distribution network, which it acquired in January for $500m. AJA is negotiating with Time Warner and carriers like Cablevision that didn't carry Current in the first place, to get in more homes. The Al Jazeera name still arouses deep suspicion in some Americans, mostly because of the period immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when Al Jazeera broadcast messages from Osama bin Laden and was demonized by Bush administration officials as anti-American. Tight security is evident at the New York office. With only six minutes of commercials per hour – far less than the usual 16 on most US networks – Al Jazeera America will feature documentary films, a hearty online news section and a 16-person investigative reporting team. “Not cluttering the news with commercials,” Mr. Al Shihabi said after a studio tour in New York on Thursday. "Almost all of their hires are respectable people with real careers and real records," Marash said. We want to give it context and perspective and make it balanced and in-depth.’ I thought, ‘Gee, this is a dream come true,’ ” he said. Scheduled shows include a nightly newscast anchored by Seigenthaler, a newsmagazine hosted by Chen, a news talk show with Mora and a business program starring Ali Velshi.
– Al Jazeera America launches this afternoon, and while some analysts believe the channel's entry to cable line-ups is a development as important as the launch of CNN or the Fox News Channel, others wonder if the new channel and its formula of serious, in-depth news will ever be able to attract more than a handful of viewers. The channel has decided to focus heavily on US news, and its "seemingly limitless financing" from the Qatari government may be "its biggest strength and its most remarked-upon weakness," writes Brian Stelter at the New York Times. With 900 staff, it is "one of the most significant investments in TV journalism in modern times," he notes. The channel has bureaus in New York City; Washington, DC; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Dallas; Detroit; Chicago; Denver; Miami; Seattle; Nashville; and New Orleans. The channel's chief executive has promised "less opinion, less yelling, and fewer celebrity sightings," reports the Guardian, which notes that its 16-person investigative team sets it apart from peers like CNN, which recently ditched its entire investigative team. Advertisers, however, seem wary, and AJA will start out with just six minutes of commercials per hour. Former Al Jazeera English reporter Dave Marash believe AJA's focus on solid news will help it make its mark. "Almost all of their hires are respectable people with real careers and real records," he tells the AP. "Several are flat-out outstanding—Sheila MacVicar is outstanding. I'm optimistic." Other major hires include John Seigenthaler, Joie Chen, and Antonio Mora. But the new channel faces plenty of hurdles: It will be available in fewer than half of US homes; and like Current TV, which it replaces, cable systems have given it high-numbered channels unlikely to draw in many channel viewers. Some Americans are still suspicious of the Al Jazeera name, as well.