Al Jazeera English & Al Jazeera America

The distribution situation in the US is completely different from the UK. In the US, you are very much dependent on the cable companies to get distribution. And they a) really don't like to add any new channels, and b) really don't like it if you are streaming your channel for free on the Internet.

In the UK, you can get a technical penetration for the vast majority of the population simply by getting a slot of Freeview and purchasing some satellite space. The platforms are open and there's really no pressure to suppress free Internet distribution. (Sky may have something to say if they were to go encrypted on satellite, but that seems unlikely.)

Not only that, in the U.S., most channels that are considered lower-tier are usually offered as part of a package for the more mainstream channels by its parent companies. ( For example: if one wanted to carry ESPN and ESPN 2, they would also have to carry ESPNEWS and ESPN U..whether the provider wants them or not.) The challenge for AJAM is use the existing Current TV carriage to make a name for themselves and expand in new markets as well. During Current's existence, Current wasn't carried in most mainsteam TV providers save for Time Warner, Dish Network, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse..and many of those who did get Current didn't even know it existed due to lack of advertising.

Titles for AJAM news bulletins if you haven't seen it already:

I recorded 10 hours' worth of coverage today with the idea that I would come back later, transfer them to my Mac, and splice them into highlight videos, but Comcast encrypts its signal of AJAM, meaning that I can't copy it more than once. I don't get this problem when I record CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and a lot of other channels, but I remember I got the same problem whenever I tried to record Current.

I'll save my full analysis for a little later, but my impression of AJAM so far is this: it's not a bad channel, but it's a bad distribution strategy. They bought Current TV with the idea that they would instantly be available in 55 million homes (by comparison, CNN is in about 100 million in the U.S.), but with Time Warner Cable and AT&T dropping them, and AJ's own restriction of the AJE website, live stream, and YouTube channel, I would argue that fewer Americans have easy access to content from Al Jazeera today than they did last week. It also wouldn't surprise me if Comcast won't drop them soon either, seeing that they're now NBCUniversal's parent company with a competitor news channel. I wonder if the reason for them not dropping it already has something to do with Comcast's stake in the former Current TV.

I'll be back if I can figure out my Firewire encryption woes...

It's 3am ET, and Al Jazeera English news with Shihab Rattansi... it seems there is a conflict with AJE's lower-thirds with AJAM ticker & DOG. But I have noticed something else...

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH


AL JAZEERA AMERICA

I'm surprised how many simulcasts of AJE there are. Stephanie Sy had live news at 2am EDT and headlines at 4am, but the 3am, 5am, and now 6am bulletins have been simulcasts of AJE in Doha. I wonder when the U.S.-based newscasts will start up again?

Not any more
Live stream cut off...was really hoping it would last a lot longer than one day. Don't think there's another way to watch AJAM if you're outside America...Just managed to catch the start of America Tonight and its lead on Bradley Manning.

Haven't managed to watch nearly enough to be able to give an overall opinion on the channel- would like to know what some of you who have got access think...reviews in press seem overall optimistic- taking Glenn Beck out the equation ofc :p
Did catch a bit of a newshour with Tony Harris- top 3 lead stories were almost identical to AJE's (Syria, Egypt and Manning) that it made it seem like I was watching AJE itself, especially with Tony anchoring and Zeina Khodr and John Terret making appearances. Cairo reporter for AJAM was different though- David Jackson (not familiar with him)- not like their is a shortage of AJE reporters there -7 at my last count! Did manage to catch the tail end of a report yesterday from Christof Putzel for America Tonight in Cairo- would be a shame if AJAM is parachuting their own reporters into international stories, especially since one of the main attractions to AJE is the fact that most their reporters live in/around the countries they report on, with the very people that are at the heart of a lot of its stories, and as such have a better idea of the context.
Still think that the approach to the America distribution should've been different- broadcast AJE with a AJAM prime time cut in (similar to what I hear they are thinking of for UK).

Speaking of staffs, I saw a report on San Francisco Bay Bridge re-opening by Melissa Chan. Is she officially with Al Jazeera America, after she was kicked-out in China as AJE correspondent?

AJEs reporters have always moved around out of their natural patch to fill in or replace others. They have been sending a lot of production staff and reporters over to the US for this launch, I suspect the AJE reporters you see are part of that, filling in for bureau posts yet to be filled.

From what I can tell, Melissa Chan is now permanently based in San Francisco. She's also a journalism fellow at Stanford University.

They seem really really dated - if you didn't know better you'd think they were from the 90s.

Perfect for their target audience then...