Al-Jazeera channel offered locally, struggling nationwide

Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
news@toledofreepress.com

Nearly six months after its debut, Al-Jazeera's English language television has gained strong viewership across Europe and in parts of Asia, Australia — and even Israel, according to station executives and local companies that carry it.

But no major cable or satellite provider in the United States is carrying the channel, a decision the network blames on political pressure. U.S. carriers, however, say there is simply no market.

Nearly 100 million households worldwide receive Al-Jazeera's English service, almost half as many as CNN, station executives say. Since January, it has been broadcasting news to 550,000 Israeli homes on Yes TV, the country's largest cable provider.

“It's extraordinary that while the rest of the world is happy to watch us ... the U.S. stands in splendid isolation,'' said Al-Jazeera English Managing Director Nigel Parsons at the station's headquarters in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar.

Station executives said they expected a dogged battle for American airwaves because Al-Jazeera's Arabic channel has been excoriated by the Bush administration as a mouthpiece for terrorists including al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden.

Al-Jazeera in Toledo
Buckeye CableSystem spokes-man Tom Dawson said the company offers Al-Jazeera English on channel 220 to area subscribers of its digital basic package. The network began airing through Buckeye on March 19.

Dawson said the cable service provider decided to carry the channel in part because of the large Middle Eastern population in the area.

“We think it helps add to the diversity of the channel,” he said.

Buckeye, which is owned by Block Communications, received some requests for the station prior to offering it, but not overwhelming demand.

Dawson said Al-Jazeera English differs significantly from the Al-Jazeera Arabic. He said it's a mainstream news channel such as CNN or the BBC.

Buckeye received several complaints when it first announced their intention to carry the station, but those have mostly subsided since it began airing, Dawson said.

“We've received as many compliments as complaints since it's been on,” he said.

Dawson said most of those who have complained haven't actually watched the channel.

Retired Oregon resident Yehia Shousher, the former president of the Toledo-based Lebanese-American Association, said he watches Al-Jazeera English. He said his impression is that most people in the area of Middle Eastern descent watch the channel, particularly those who are first or second generation Americans.

“They like to watch it and listen to the Middle Eastern news,” Shousher said.

Shousher said many local residents of Middle Eastern descent also watch the Arabic Al-Jazeera, which they receive via satellite.

Still, No. 1 U.S. cable provider Comcast Corp. was ready to carry Al-Jazeera English's November debut in the Detroit area, Al-Jazeera executives said.

But Comcast suddenly pulled out just before launch, Parsons said. He and Wadah Khanfar, managing director of Al-Jazeera Arabic, believed the decision was spurred by U.S. political opposition.

“We suspect there was outside pressure, including of a political nature,'' Parsons said. But he said he had no evidence of such pressure, and did not know whether pressure came from the U.S. government, elected officials or lobby groups.

A spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based Comcast, D'Arcy Rudnay, said scarce bandwidth and not political pressure was to blame.

“We looked at the local lineup and determined that the channel capacity would be better used to add other channels and services that our customers have been asking for, e.g. more (high definition) and HD On Demand programming,'' Rudnay said in an e-mail.

Al-Jazeera in Detroit
Detroit, home to a large Arab community, was considered an ideal market for Arab-focused news. Parsons said Comcast's Detroit affiliate was “pushing for an agreement'' to carry Al-Jazeera, which broadcasts in high definition.

Comcast's Detroit spokesman, Jerome Espy, said he wasn't familiar with the details of the Al-Jazeera negotiations. Espy said Comcast Detroit has bandwidth to spare for channels “that fit a certain niche.'' But he said there was already programming catering to local Arabs.

For now, Al-Jazeera's only U.S. carriers are Fision, a small provider in Houston; Globecast, a French satellite provider; and local providers in Ohio, Vermont and Washington D.C.

The station is currently negotiating with others, Parsons said.

Al-Jazeera faces questions about its marketability in America, however.

At one major cable carrier, an executive said Al-Jazeera's English programming was too similar to BBC World and there weren't enough likely American viewers to add another foreign-centric news channel.

The executive spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss corporate strategy.

Al-Jazeera in Israel
Al-Jazeera English has found an audience in Israel for its mix of extensive African, Asian and Middle Eastern coverage. Viewers in Israel also have access to Al-Jazeera's original Arabic news channel.

“This is thought of as one of the best news channels in the world,'' said Yes TV spokeswoman Libi Zipser, speaking of Al-Jazeera English. “There are those who think that certain channels are less supportive of Israel, but we just let our customers see what they want to see.''

Jeanette Elmekis, 58, whose husband was killed in the 1973 Middle East war, said she thought it was “very important'' to understand what people perceived as Israel's enemies think — even if it appears unfair.

“But if I hate him (my enemy), that won't heal my wounds,'' Elmekis said.

Other analysts say it is not surprising Israel has accepted

Al-Jazeera English, given how aggressive and skeptical Israeli media are. That has conditioned Israelis to such coverage.

Al-Jazeera “is very critical of Israel, and biased and highly problematic. But you don't ban it,'' said Eytan Gilboa, a communications professor at Israel's Bar-Ilan University.