Tag: Al Jazeera International

Al Jazeera International launches Wednesday; not available in India

MUMBAI: There’s just a day left for the official launch of Al Jazeera International, the English language sibling of the sometimes controversial Arabic language channel Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera International will kick off its inaugural broadcast from its headquarters in Doha, Qatar at 12 GMT tomorrow.

In English-language markets, the channel will beam down from the Astra and Eurobird satellites to DSat homes in the UK; the Globecast platform in the US; Optus in Australia; and foreign-language platform Orcus in New Zealand, informs an official release.

Interestingly, though India has been identified as a potential market, the channel will not be available in the country after the Union Home Ministry informed that the Qatar-based Arab news channel will not be allowed to register an office in India, thereby restricting its plans to beam into the country.

The government had asked the channel to go off air six months ago on account of not conforming to the downlinking guidelines by 10 May. Al Jazeera had submitted an application to the company affairs ministry for registration of a company in India, as stipulated by the government for channels uplinking from overseas and seeking to downlink into the country.

While the I&B ministry cleared the application, the home ministry, however, declined the application citing security considerations. According to a media report, the ministry, in a letter dated 14 September, specified that the company should not be permitted to deal in the business of providing news.

Earlier this year, information and broadcasting minister PR Dasmunsi had clarified that the reason Arab television channels like Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabia, QTV had gone off air was because they had not applied for downlink permission in India.

Broadcast across the globe, Al Jazeera English will far exceed its original launch target of 40 million cable and satellite homes. It will be distributed across all continents throughout the world and in addition to cable and satellite will be available on broadband IPTV, ADSL, terrestrial and mobile phone platforms.

Not surprisingly the channel has got a very limited distribution in the US after it was “blanked” by big satellite players like News Corp’s DirecTV and Charlie Ergen’s Echostar and cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner. Al Jazeera English will only be available to subscribers of the GlobeCast Network – a subsidiary of France Telecom that carries channels from all parts of the world and services mainly non-Americans.

Among the European satellite and cable platforms to carry the channel are Canal Sat and TPS in France, Kabel Deutschland and Kabel BW in Germany, HK Broadband in Hong Kong, YES TV in Israel, Sky Italia, Astro Malaysia, Canal Digital in The Netherlands, ORCUS in New Zealand, Canal Digitaal in Nordic Region and Sky Guide 514 in United Kingdom.

November 14, 2006
Al Jazeera International to showcase Asia Pacific programme ‘101 East’

MUMBAI: Al Jazeera International, the proposed 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, has announced that the news anchor Teymoor Nabili will present its flagship Asia-Pacific current affairs show, 101 East.

Earlier this year Nabili was announced as also being the channel’s principal male news anchor in Kuala Lumpur alongside Veronica Pedrosa formerly of CNN International.

Broadcast from Kuala Lumpur, one of four regional broadcast centres strategically placed around the world in Doha, London and Washington DC, 101 East will be the region’s definitive discussion show for a local and global audience. Topical and authoritative, according to an official release, 101 East will often beat local broadcasters to local stories. From Mongolia to Australia, China to Indonesia, 101 East will report and reflect on major issues from health and wealth, politics and religion.

Nabili is winner of best news presenter/anchor at the Asian TV Awards in 2005, he has also received awards from the UK Royal Television Society, for coverage of the Utah Olympic bribery scandal, and from the New York Awards, for reporting on economic development in Malaysia.

Al Jazeera International director news & programmes Steve Clark said, “101 East will complement our broad range of programmes to bring viewers around the world the latest on the Asia Pacific region from within, reversing the flow of information with Asia calling the shots. Local viewers will be surprised at the uncensored coverage.”

Nabili brings 17 years of experience to Al Jazeera International: writing, producing, reporting and anchoring in television, radio and print. He joined Al Jazeera International from CNBC Asia in Singapore, where he has been anchor since 2001. Previous roles include news anchor for BBC Television in London, and anchor for European Business News.

Reporting highlights include covering the September 11th terrorist attack on New York City for Channel 4 News and the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka for CNBC. Interview highlights include the Malaysia Prime Ministers Mahathir Mohammed and Ahmad Abdullah Badawi, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Singapore Prime Ministers Goh Chok Tong and Lee Hsien Loong.

As a commissioning house Al Jazeera International’s programmes will include material gathered from freelancers and independent companies all across the globe through a unique commissioning site: www.ajicommissioning.net

October 30, 2006
Al Jazeera International announces African line-up

MUMBAI: Al Jazeera International, the long-delayed Qatar based international English news channel, today announced its full line up of bureaux and correspondents across Africa. It will have bureaux in Cairo – Egypt, Abidjan – Ivory Coast, Nairobi – Kenya, Johannesburg – South Africa and Harare – Zimbabwe.

Al Jazeera International, which is now targeting a year-end launch, will be sharing the resources of the Al Jazeera Arabic Channel’s African bureaux located in Ndjamena – Chad, Tripoli – Libya, Nouakchott – Mauritania, Rabat – Morocco, Dakar – Senegal, Mogadishu – Somalia, Johannesburg – South Africa and Khartoum – Sudan.

“Our reporting from Africa will be unparalleled. We will have more bureaux and resources dedicated to Africa than any other global broadcaster,” said Al Jazeera International managing director Nigel Parsons.

Speaking from Doha, director of news Steve Clark said, “Africa is one of the most pivotal places in the world to report from. It is a continent of hope and change.”
“We are planning other bureaux across the continent of Africa and will be announcing them in due course,” Clark continued.

“The teams we have in place show a level of dedication and understanding that I am sure will give us a distinctive edge,” said Africa bureau chief Andrew Simmons.

September 19, 2006
Al Jazeera International ropes in ITV News’ Shiulie Ghosh as news anchor

MUMBAI: The Doha based Al Jazeera International, the proposed 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel has appointed renowned correspondent Shiulie Ghosh as news anchor.
Ghosh joins a large team of diverse on-screen talent based around the world at the channel’s broadcast centres: from Ghida Fakhry and Dave Marash at their Washington DC centre, to Veronica Pedrosa and Teymoor Nabili in Kuala Lumpur through to Felicity Barr and Stephen Cole and at the channel’s London broadcast centre, informs an official release.

Speaking on Ghosh’s appointment, Al Jazeera International director news Steve Clark said, “I am pleased to have Shiulie on board. She brings a wealth of experience in news reporting to the channel and is a great addition to the team.”

Ghosh joins Al Jazeera International from ITV News where she was a correspondent and a presenter covering a range of major events around the world. Her reporting from Thailand on the Asian tsunami was awarded the 2006 Alfred I. Dupont Columbia News Broadcasting Award. During the conflict in Kosovo, Ghosh was based in southern Italy, where she reported on the bombing missions flown by NATO crews. She secured the first television report from the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible heading for action off the coast of Montenegro. Post-conflict, she reported on the continuing tensions in the divided town of Mitrovica.

She first joined ITV News as a general reporter in January 1998 and later spent three years as Home Affairs Editor of ITV News. She has covered a wide range of prominent domestic stories for ITV News including the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the May Day disturbances and the death of the Queen Mother.

In 2001, Shiulie was named Best Television News Journalist at the British Telecom Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards.

August 16, 2006
Al Jazeera International ropes in veteran scribe Ibrahim Helal

MUMBAI: Veteran journalist Ibrahim Helal has been appointed deputy managing director news and programmes of the soon to be launched news and current affairs channel Al Jazeera International.

Helal is a former editor-in-chief at Al Jazeera’s Arabic language channel and most recently served as a project director on the Middle East North Africa dialogue programme for the BBC World Service Trust.

Prior to his joining Al Jazeera International, he worked in London for the BBC’s Arabic service.

“Having Ibrahim join us at the English-language channel not only further professionalises our staff with a top-flight newsman, it also solidifies us as a family built around the core spirit of Al Jazeera,” said Al Jazeera managing director Nigel Parsons.

Helal will oversee the Middle East desk and ensure close working relations with the Arabic news channel. “Ibrahim will have a quality-control responsibility to assure that news content across the channels is consistent—and consistently good,” said Parsons.

Al Jazeera’s English-channel promises agenda-free news from every corner of the globe carried across fibre-optic HDTV technology. The channel plans to launch later this year.

May 31, 2006
Al Jazeera International sees delay in launch

MUMBAI: The proposed English news and current affairs channel Al Jazeera International has delayed the launch of the channel from April to September at the earliest.

The channel an offshoot of the Qatar-based Arabic network has pushed the launch date on account of series of constructions and technical glitches at its four centres in London, Doha, Kuala Lumpur and Washington, according to The Guardian.

The channel is said to be still experiencing problems and thus, the launch has now been stated to be early September.

The executives of the channel are said to be increasingly fed up with the slow pace of progress. “Staff are extremely frustrated, as is the management, who are tearing their hair out at the inefficiency of support staff,” said a source to the publication The Guardian.

The bosses at the English-language service were concerned about “meddling” from Al-Jazeera’s Arabic owners, who are thought to be worried the new channel could end up a “watered down version of the BBC or CNN” and a “damp squib managed by non-Muslim westerners”.

Although the broadcaster has inked a deal with the Sky Digital in UK, it is however finding difficulties in striking deals in the key American market.

The Al-Jazeera spokeswoman speaking to The Guardian said that the broadcaster was not releasing an official launch date. However, she said the channel’s management had a particular date towards which they were working.

“They are waiting on their technical requirements to be fulfilled,” she said.

CNN and BCC are the main competitors to the Al-Jazeera International targeting the English-language news audiences, particularly in its coverage of the Middle East.

The broadcaster has already roped in high-profile personalities, including Sir David Frost, former CNN Riz Khan, former CNN Rageh Omaar, Channel Five news presenter Barbara Serra for the London newsroom, and as well as other journalists from Sky, ITN and elsewhere.

Recently, the channel hired a host of presenters for sports coverage.

Al-Jazeera launched in Qatar in November 1996, bankrolled by the Emir of Qatar, but came to international prominence during the US attack on Afghanistan in 2001 when it was the only foreign broadcaster in Kabul.

Al-Jazeera, which has been credited with changing the face of Arab television news, has faced criticism from the US as well as several Arab states. The channel is always surrounded by controversies by screening messages from the most-wanted man Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al-Qaida.

The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced plans to set up its own Arabic news channel next year and has roped in former Al-Jazeera executive Salah Negm as news editor.

May 25, 2006
Al Jazeera International lines-up weekly sports magazine ‘Sportsworld’

MUMBAI: Doha based – Al Jazeera International, yet to launch 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel has revealed their line-up of sports presenters and also the sports offering.

The channel’s weekly magazine programme Sportsworld will also take viewers behind the scenes of some of these major sporting events. The team will interview not only the leading stars but also the unsung personalities – adhering to the channel’s aim of giving our viewers a 360 degree perspective on what is happening in the world of sport, both professional and amateur.

Al Jazeera International’ sport head Stuart Young, has assembled a team of experienced reporters and presenters, whose diversity and own areas of expertise complement each other: Carrie Brown formerly of Eurosport; Brendan Connor formerly of CBC Canada; Imran Garda formerly of South Africa’s Supersport channel; Joanna Gasiorowska who joins the channel from ITV’s Evening News; Dara McIntosh formerly of ESPN and NBC in the USA; Rahul Pathak from the UK’s Five News as well as Andrew Richardson formerly of Five News in the UK.

Young says, “I am delighted to have such a group of individuals whose breadth of knowledge, depth of experience and all-round strengths will take us to the forefront of sports reporting.”

“Together, we will work to bring viewers around the globe the latest from the world of sport. From countries often overlooked, on sports often under-reported, we hope to inform and enlighten as well as entertain and excite,” he continued.

In keeping with the channel’s fresh approach, the sports coverage will be a mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the expected and the surprising, which includes the football leagues in Europe and South America, the tennis grand slam events, the golf majors, cricket test matches, rugby internationals, Formula 1 and MotoGP, North American sports, athletics, boxing, cycling, sailing and winter sports.

May 10, 2006