The cable news network hit the air in 2013, won several prestigious awards, but never attracted a meaningful audience, often failing to draw 30,000 viewers in prime time.
Jordan Weissmann says that Al Jazeera America’s name and Quatari pedigree may have had a role in its demise, but its bigger problem was its content. “The channel was founded on the utterly ill-conceived idea that Americans were starving for sober, ‘unbiased’ hard news coverage,” he writes. “It made the mistake of offering viewers the programming they claimed to want, instead of the programming that all available evidence suggests they actually enjoy.”
The cable news outlet, which began broadcasting in August 2013, said it would expand its digital presence in the United States.
Exclusives
Al Jazeera America has struck a new carriage agreement with DirecTV after coming to terms on a lawsuit that DirecTV filed agains the all-news cabler last year. The agreement calls for DirecTV to carry the soon-to-launch Al Jazeera America HD channel.
Al Jazeera America In NOLA For Katrina Specials
NEW YORK (AP) — The former head of Al Jazeera America’s documentary unit has sued the news network, claiming it is biased against non-Arabs and women in stories that it […]
A lawsuit and an exodus of top executives have revealed grievances that employees say reflect a deep dysfunction in management of the newsroom.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Vice President Al Gore is suing Al Jazeera America, saying the news network is withholding tens of millions of dollars that it owes for buying […]
The American arm of the news network says its Gaza coverage has fueled a 30% surge in overall viewers and 40% in primetime watchers. What that translates to is the channel reaching 3.0 million unique viewers for the total day, and 1.4 million in prime time, according to an Al Jazeera America spokesperson.
WFLD’s Myers Leaves For Al Jazeera America
“AT&T’s decision to unilaterally delete Al Jazeera America presented us with circumstances that were untenable — an affiliate that has willfully and knowingly breached its contractual obligations,” the news channel says.
The new cable news network debuting today has put together an extensive team of journalists and U.S. bureaus. It’s hoping its plan to offer “less opinion, less yelling and fewer celebrities” with win over viewers. Among the staff are former CBS journalist Marcy McGinnis, who’s in charge of newsgathering, and Alan Schauffler, who left KING Seattle to head up the new network’s Seattle bureau.
The 24/7 cable news network has established local news bureaus in 12 U.S. cities in addition to nearly 70 overseas news bureaus. President Kate O’Brian, formerly of ABC News, says while her network’s main focus will be telling strong, unbiased stories about what’s going on in the United States, but it’s not going to ignore major global stories. It will carry a commercial load of six minutes an hour.
