http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061031/API/610311747&cachetime=5The Al-Jazeera International network has set a launch date of Nov. 15, although it's still not clear whether anybody in the United States will be able to see it.
The English-language offshoot of the influential Arab network Al-Jazeera will begin operations at 7 a.m. ET out of its Doha, Qatar headquarters, the network announced on Tuesday. The network operates with four main offices, in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur.
The network missed its target launch of last spring, and after that executives said it didn't make sense to begin during the summer months, when viewership is down.
Al-Jazeera International has not announced any agreements with cable or satellite systems in the United States to carry it. Negotiations are ongoing, and spokesman Marc Smrikarov said agreements will be announced before launch.
Al-Jazeera International should reach its goal of being available to between 30 million and 40 million homes worldwide by launch, he said.
Al-Jazeera International is billed as the first global English-language news network headquartered in the Middle East. Its executives have promised to cover the news from a different perspective, and reverse the information flow from the developing world to the West.
"We will extend the Al-Jazeera spirit into the English-speaking world," said Nigel Parsons, director of Al-Jazeera International.
When it hits the airwaves, the network will broadcast 24 hours, with 12 daily hours of live news accompanied by another 12 hours of interview programs, features and analysis, the network said in a prepared release.
Al-Jazeera's Arabic-language channel, which marks its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, has clashed repeatedly with Washington, which says its exclusive broadcasts of Osama bin Laden speeches show an anti-American bias. Its freewheeling newscasts have overshadowed state-run TV stations across much of the Arab world, leading some countries to close Al-Jazeera's bureaus.
Outside America, the station plans to compete with CNN International and BBC World, the two chief English-language satellite news channels. The new station will be headquartered in Doha and operate broadcast newsrooms in London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The station says its research shows some of the world's one billion English speakers, including Americans, thirst for news from a non-Western perspective.
The ever-contentious Middle East will be its specialty. And the news, including coverage of Israel, will be served up from an Arab perspective, Al-Jazeera executives have said.
