Time for a New Cable Model?

In a witheringly condescending article, Guardian columnist Michael Wolff recently mocked the launching of Al Jazeera America, a new cable network that will compete with the likes of Fox, CNN and MSNBC. Hardly mincing words, Wolff writes that Al Jazeera's programming is "dreary as all get out." "The network is so boring," Wolff continues, "that there is no real reason to be hostile to it." Not stopping there, Wolff adds "if Al Jazeera were more passionate, more gutsy, more jaw-dropping to Muslim-fearing Americans,flash drive and USB flash drives wholesale logo printing in Malaysia. that would be something to defend, with joy in the cause.Application can be conducted with the local designated IC card producers. And even, perhaps, an audience to follow. But who is really going over the barricades for some super-rich Qataris and their roster of sanctimonious and boring news shows?"

Rallying to Al Jazeera's defense, Guardian readers took Wolff to task in the paper's online comments section. "I don't really see why an international news agency should be entertaining. It is my understanding that news agencies should be informative," notes one reader. Another writes, "Al Jazeera is definitely interesting, unless you don't care at all for global news and just prefer to read about celebrity divorces." "Frankly, I don't think Michael Wolff and Co. actually know what interesting is," adds yet another reader, "beyond the latest junk topics that all the U.S. networks keep recycling." Other readers argue that Al Jazeera has outclassed its competitors when it comes to international news coverage and point out that the network has won many journalistic awards.

It's one thing to trounce a network, yet Wolff never spells out what he is actually for. Reading between the lines, however, it would seem that the Guardian columnist prefers slick entertainment to hard news. "Al Jazeera clearly does not place much of a premium on wit or style," he laments,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. and "often relies on old-time, marginal or unhappy mainstream broadcasters in an effort to gain some legitimacy and recognition." Presumably, Wolff prefers the chipper, offbeat and occasionally wacky commentators who inhabit the liberal lineup of MSNBC. At one point, the Guardian man remarks that liberal pundit Keith Olbermann, despite his "cantankerous" nature, represents a bright "moment in the sun."

Ridiculous aspersions on "unhappy" commentators aside, the future trajectory of Al Jazeera America is very much open to question. Just how does the new network hope to appeal to the U.S. audience? The stakes are high as Doha HQ, home to the original Al Jazeera Arabic network, reportedly paid a whopping $500 million for Al Gore's Current TV. Al Jazeera America will shortly replace the ailing Current and thereby secure coveted access to the U.S. cable market. With Current TV in the fold, Al Jazeera's reach into the American market will increase exponentially to more than 60 million homes.

Such a development is sorely welcomed back in Doha, which has been trying to crack American cable for years. Indeed, executives at sister station Al Jazeera English (AJE) have been perpetually frustrated by uncooperative U.S. cable companies and to this day few operators actually carry the network. Under an unusual "sublet" deal with another network, AJE is available on Time Warner cable, though only part time and just in New York. Facing such uphill structural problems, AJE has scarcely managed to reach 5 million U.S. homes out of a grand total of 100 million.

The new network, Al Jazeera America, will focus on U.S. news but will re-broadcast about 40 percent of its content from sister station AJE which covers international news [the two outlets will beam from separate channels, however]. The rest of Al Jazeera America's programming, some 60 percent of overall content,A lanyard may refer to a rope or cord worn around the neck or wrist to carry an object. will be entirely original.

It all sounds promising enough, yet the new network faces a number of daunting challenges. Indeed, Americans don't always take to foreign news outlets and both Russian-English news network RT as well as BBC America have struggled in the ratings department, to say nothing of China's CCTV and France 24. In a political sense, Al Jazeera may carry additional baggage: to this day some recall how the network aired an Osama bin Laden video in which the deceased Saudi terrorist referred to the World Trade Center attacks as "commendable."

Even if Al Jazeera manages to overcome American stereotypes, there are other logistical hurdles in store. Hours after Al Jazeera purchased Current, reprehensible Time Warner Cable announced that it would no longer carry the network. Such a development needs to be taken seriously, since Time Warner is the second largest TV operator in the U.S. and plays an important role in the New York metropolitan market. If the company follows through on its threats, Al Jazeera's viewership could be cut from a high of 60 million homes down to 48 million.

Though Time Warner recently stated that it still had an "open mind" about carrying Al Jazeera America, some suspect the cable provider may be motivated by political considerations. In justifying its original decision, Time Warner remarked that it "did not consent" to the Al Jazeera sale, prompting the Atlantic magazine to remark that the underlying rationale may have been "about more than business."

The Huffington Post went even further, remarking that Time Warner's decision smacked of outright censorship. According to the website, Time Warner has become "a government-regulated near monopoly," and behaved in an anti-American manner when it moved to block Al Jazeera. "A few executives at cable providers... actually have too much unfettered censorship power,We are Malaysia company specialize in customized silicone bracelet." notes The Huffington Post, "and it threatens our freedom of choice and access to news."

What does the wider U.S. public think about Time Warner's leverage over news content? Rather disturbingly, most people don't seem to be bothered. According to a poll carried out by The Huffington Post, Americans approved of Time Warner's decision to drop Al Jazeera America by a whopping margin of almost two to one. According to the poll, Republicans were the most supportive of Time Warner, with 65 percent approving of the media company's decision. However, even independents and Democrats were disappointing, with 42 percent and 26 percent, respectively, backing Time Warner. Al Jazeera ran into particular problems with older Americans, who were more likely to support the dropping of the network than younger folk.