BRIDGING THE GULF
Al Jazeera International offers a new global perspective

Al Jazeera is one of the most widely watched and respected networks in the Middle East. Later this year, the news and current affairs broadcaster, based in Qatar, will launch Al Jazeera International, a new English-speaking global news & current affairs channel, which intends to bring a new perspective to global news coverage.

Since it began broadcasting in 1996, Al Jazeera has built an independent reputation within the Persian Gulf and achieved a global profile, reporting on world events from the heart of the region. The launch of Al Jazeera International later this year, to a target of some 40 million households, will open up the network to the English-speaking world, giving the west a first-hand account of where the channel truly stands in reporting local and global events.

A unique view of the world
Via Eutelsat spoke with Lindsey Oliver, Commercial Director for the channel, who provided us with an insight to the objectives for launching Al Jazeera International; “Never before has there been such an intense political, intellectual, and market-based interest in either the Arab world, or in a news outlet that can offer a unique grassroots view of global current events. In recent years there have been ground-breaking developments in the Arab world that have encouraged growth of a free media, and we intend to build on this by bringing a fresh perspective on regional and global news from a unique viewpoint.”

Regarding the channel’s news coverage, Oliver adds; “We are a global television network based in the Middle East, but Al Jazeera International will be truly international, offering news regularly from under-reported parts of the world, including places like Africa and China. Our main focus is to seek out and cover different perspectives of news through grassroots reporting wherever news is made, and to impartially present these stories to the English-speaking world.”

Broadcast through four centres
With a de-centralized editorial structure, Al Jazeera International will broadcast live from four operational centres around the world - Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, over a 24-hour period. Each broadcast centre will ‘carry’ the network for several hours a day and take its editorial control from that location, with global transmission coming through Doha. Within each hour-long segment, the first half will be devoted to news and the second half to feature, documentary and interactive programming.

The channel will be available on pay-TV platforms in major markets such as the UK, France and Germany, and will be available from the start in High Definition, where requested by a platform operator. Revenues will come from carriage fees, syndication and advertising.

Eutelsat will broadcast the new channel in association with GlobeCast, one of Eutelsat’s key satellite providers, via EUROBIRD™ 1 at 28.5° East and HOT BIRD™ 6 at 13° East to viewers in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.