Al Jazeera Buys Current TV, Terms Undisclosed...

[mother earth]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/03/aljazeera-current-idUSL1E9C30B120130103

Snippet:

"Both Comcast and DirecTV also hold equity stakes of more than 5 percent in Current, according to public filings.

Current said Gore, its chairman, and co-founder Joel Hyatt, the chief executive officer, will remain on the advisory board.

PARANOIA ABOUT AL JAZEERA

Analysts said Al Jazeera would have to overcome a significant image problem in the United States, where many viewers remember its stridently anti-war reporting of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

--------------------

Heads must be exploding everywhere.

[Khaotic]

1. Sadly This Will Fail on an Epic Scale

When people hear or read about Al-Jazeera they think of Baghdad Bob or Chemical Ali and how Al-Jazeera continued to air Bob's crazy rants even after it became clearer and clearer it was propaganda ... not just slight or skewed, but down right fiction.

That's Al-Jazeera's legacy in this country and that's how people think of them ... at least those who know what Al-Jazeera is in the first place.

I don't watch Faux News, but I can only imagine that they're re-enforcing those perceptions by showing file footage of Baghdad Bob and Chemical Ali with the Al-Jazeera logo at the bottom of the screen.

It would take an epic marketing campaign in this country to change people's perception on this, and while Al-Jazeera has $500 million to acquire Current TV, it doesn't have enough $$$ to mount such a campaign.

If Al-Jazeera remade themselves like RT TV did, RT standing for Russia Today, then Americans might digest it with a lot less bias, but there's been no such effort. RT is available all over the 'Net and is also available on Dish Network here in the U.S.

Since they're doing an immediate switch to Al-Jazeera America look for almost every outlet that carried Current TV to drop them. Those that don't do so right away will receive a huge outcry from every swath of this country. It won't just come from the right, it will come from everywhere.

Dish Network might hold out for a little while, but don't look for them to hold out long. They carry The Blaze (the rightwing version of Current TV) and because they know rabid rightwingers will pay more to see it, it's only available on the top tier. Look for Dish to drop Al-Jazeera America and for them to put The Blaze on the next lower tier making it available to an even larger audience.

What will all this mean to us?

Current TV is effectively dead now, which sucks. Al-Jazeera America will fail ... just the way it is.

I recommend watching MSNBC, Link TV, Free Speech TV, and RT TV for your progressive news fix. Other than that listen to what you can over the 'Net.

If you have a smartphone download TuneIn radio or iHeart Radio and you'll have a good array of progressive programs to choose from.

TuneIn radio includes podcasts, so you can also access programs such as Best of the Left that uses content from all over the progressive spectrum.

[NICO9000]

2. Yup

If they think the Current ratings are low, wait'll they see the money pit that AJA is gonna be.

This is just such depressing news. We finally get an actual liberal network and it can't even last for two years. I'm glad I can still hear Stephanie on the radio here in L.A., but I am gonna miss my nightly dose of Cenk. TYT is online of course, but it's great to hear him rant for an hour a day on the teevee.

[MADem]

3. I heard they paid $491 million, and they are planning on establishing their network in NYC.

60 percent of content will be generated in USA, 40 % will come from AJ/English franchise out of Qatar.

BTW, your OP link is bad.....

[mother earth]

7. TY, updated it. :)

[Ian David]

4. When Right-Wingers whinge about this, remind them Fox "News" is owned by Murdoch and a Saudi prince.

... And not just ANY Saudi prince. The Saudi Prince behind the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque."



Rupert Murdoch, controlling owner of News Corp., with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit in March. Waleed holds 7 percent of the voting stock of the media company.

The proposed construction of an Islamic center and mosque close to ground zero in New York City has inspired intense scrutiny from news outlets this month — and few have outstripped the Fox News Channel in their interest.

That's especially true on Fox's opinion-driven shows in the morning and evening hours. Familiar figures including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have repeatedly asked where the money for the center will come from.

Yet the parent company of Fox News shares a financial backer with the imam who is at the center of the firestorm. The second-largest holder of voting stock in News Corp. is Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a nephew of the Saudi king. And through his philanthropies, Waleed has given generously to initiatives pursued by the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf.

But that connection has not been spelled out by Fox to viewers. Fox's intense coverage of the Islamic center, combined with its lack of disclosure about the corporate connection to Waleed, has sparked scorn from some media critics and from liberals — including, repeatedly, from satirist Jon Stewart.

More:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129584557

[KamaAina]

5. Especially here in the Bay Area

where we just saw Lucasflim hoovered up by Disney, just like Pixar years ago. And now this. We really no longer have any media outlet available nationally.

[Raine]

6. I have cable TV but also a TV on a converter box that get Al Jazeera. I'm shocked at how much better

Al Jazeera news is than the pitiful news our networks broadcast. Al Jazeera goes indepth on stories, it's hard to get used to at first because you get so used to 2-3 minutes reports from CBS, NBC, & ABC.

[spanone]

8. well i heard on the media three times today that the sale 'made Al Gore a wealthy man'

they don't know shit......

[colsohlibgal]

9. Mixed Feelings

Big Al cashing in bugs me. Likely losing Stephanie Miller and the other programming I'm used to irritates me as well.

But I've watched Al Jazeera on YouTube and it is not what a lot of people imagine, it's good.

It's kind of like Russian TV American, or RT - Thom Hartmann has a show on it, it's very liberal.

My two favorite shows I watch religiously are Steph's and Cenk's, and I can still get them by other means, so it's not so bad I guess.

I will be curious to see how Al Jazeera works out - this could be a very good thing in the end - maybe we can all just get along, at least it's a good goal.