Al Jazeera launches news channel in English - by William Wallis
After repeated delays due to technical and other hitches, Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite television station that has revolutionised Arab media, on Wednesday launches its English-language news and current affairs channel.
The station on Tuesday announced a string of 87 cable and satellite distribution deals, including with Sky, Canal Sat and, in the US, Globecast. Lyndsey Oliver, commercial director of the international channel, said she anticipated reaching, from the outset, more than 80m homes around the world. The network's directors, hope the new channel will build on the success of its Arabic counterpart, shaking up global broadcasting just as the Arabic channel has shaken the staid traditions of broadcasting in the Middle East.
Al Jazeera was launched 10 years ago, when Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, recruited and funded a group of Arab journalists who had been laid off by the BBC, giving them free rein to report events around the Middle East.
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