Al Jazeera International

Al Jazeera is the channel that rose to international prominence when Osama bin Laden started sending in videotaped messages. Indeed, had it not been for the 9/11 terror attacks in the US, this broadcasting brand may well have remained solely of interest to the Middle East. The world has changed dramatically in the past couple of years, however. The channel, which pitches itself as the voice that 'people, governments and decision-makers cannot afford to ignore', is expanding significantly and, despite a series of set backs and delays, we are told the launch of Al Jazeera International's English-language service is imminent.
 
1 Al Jazeera is based in Doha and launched in 1996 with backing from the Emir of Qatar as an Arabic-language broadcaster. It also has a news website which is available in English, but Al Jazeera International will be its first foray into English-language TV.

2 The new channel will primarily be a 24-hour news channel. Current affairs, analysis, travel, entertainment and documentary programming will be scheduled between news bulletins. It is positioning itself as 'objective and independent, covering all sides of the story from all parts of the world', and says it will have a more youthful and edgy image than the likes of BBC World and CNN.

3 Just when Al Jazeera International will launch is anyone's guess. The channel initially said it would go live in June this year, but as June came and went, officials have been reluctant to name another date more specific than 'later this year'. What they will say is that the launch will involve a gradual roll-out, with launches depending on deals with individual TV platforms, rather than a simultaneous switching-on worldwide.

4 Waiting in the wings, meanwhile, is a complement of
respected and experienced international reporting and presenting staff, many lured from the big Western networks. These include Riz Khan and David Foster. The channel's MD is former APTN and BBC man Nigel Parsons, and Steve Clark, formerly of Sky and ITN, is news chief. However, in August, the channel was hit by the departure of director of programmes Paul Gibbs, who quit after differences with management.

5 The channel's broadcast hub in Asia will be in Kuala Lumpur, with other broadcast centres in Doha, London and Washington DC. Correspondents will be based throughout the region and the world.
6 With its heritage and reputation built in the Middle East, its obvious strength will be in reporting on this region and the wider Muslim world, but Al Jazeera International also hopes to make its Africa coverage a key point of difference between it and its rivals. It is the only global news channel to have a licence to run a bureau in Zimbabwe, and has just announced that it will have bureaux in Egypt, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and South Africa, as well as sharing the resources of the Arabic sister channel's bureaux in eight African states.

7 Al Jazeera's London office says advertising is not yet being sold, although earlier reports said several deals had already been inked. The channel is, however, in discussions with several advertisers who have approached them with a view to signing up. Al Jazeera says it expects to attract a similar range of advertiser categories as do CNN International and BBC World - airlines, travel destinations and business services brands, along with consumer brands like Nike, and those that  identify their own brand values as being young and cutting-edge, like those of the channel itself.

8 Advertising sales will, at least initially, be handled from the Al Jazeera group's HQ in Doha. Programme and segment sponsorship will be on offer, as well as the usual airtime for spots. It will be possible for advertisers to buy single or groupings of markets, but sales will focus mainly on pan-regional and global campaigns.

9 Whether the advent of Al Jazeera in English will lure substantial viewers from other big English-language news channels is yet to be established, and ad revenue will only shift if consumer eyeballs go first. One media agency head says: "I would have thought that it would only really appeal to a fairly niche audience in the long term."