Australian-Media.com.au News

• Al Jazeera English using the internet to lure US viewers

  July 26 2007 12:11pm (UTC+8)  -  Article by Kevin

  Al Jazeera English says it has signed up more than 20,000 US subscribers to its online video streaming service, effectively side stepping the US cable operators who have refused to carry the channel since it launched in November of last year.
  
  Nigel Parsons, the managing director of Al Jazeera English, said US viewers made up 60 per cent of the channel's online audience. The network blames political opposition in the US to its Arabic channel for its failure to secure distribution on any large US cable network.
  
  The 20,000+ viewers in the US are paying US$6 a month for the full channel to be streamed live to their home computers, Mr Parsons said. More were accessing individual broadcasts via YouTube and other online video sites.
  
  Al Jazeera English is the world's first English news channel with it's headquarters located in the "heart of the Middle East". The channel aims to provide both a regional voice and a global perspective to a potential world audience of over one billion English speakers. Instead of being run under central command, news management rotates around broadcasting centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC.
  
  Australian-Media.com.au