like Air America, no advertisers = bankruptcy... even the rich arabs wouldn't fund it
Posted on 01/13/2016 3:55:52 PM PST by mandaladon
When Al Jazeera America was launched to great fanfare in 2013 its then-leader told The Wall Street Journal that it planned to skip tabloid fare in favor “fact-based, in-depth, long-format news†in part because it didn’t have to worry too much about profits.
After all, it was backed by the oil-and-gas-rich government of Qatar, and oil was trading around $100 a barrel.
On Wednesday, with oil trading near $30, Al Jazeera made an about-face, announcing it was shutting down American cable channel by April 30 for economic reasons.
“While Al Jazeera America built a loyal audience across the U.S. and increasingly was recognized as an important new voice in television news, the economic landscape of the media environment has driven its strategic decision to wind down its operations and conclude its service,†wrote Al Anstey, a longtime Al Jazeera executive who took over as CEO of the American channel in May after its founding CEO was ousted in the wake of discrimination suits.
The move follows broader announcements from Doha in recent months that there would be significant cutbacks at Al Jazeera, which runs several channels, including its flagship Arabic channel and an international channel in English that isn’t currently distributed in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The government of Qatar, which backs Al Jazeera, gets about 90% of its budget from the energy sector, according to the IMF.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
‘I’m sure that’s just devastating to all their viewers’, said Peyton Manning.
Yahoo...let the door knob hit you on the way out. Pleas take Algore with you.
It’s a big loss. This network was more honest that CNN.
Gosh, that’s sad.
Such a respected news organization.
I always said that what America really needs is a Muslim Brotherhood perspective on the events of the day.
I guess America just isn’t diverse enough and multicultural enough to appreciate something this good.
/s
Well, bye
IATAZ!
In After the American Zot!
Even Qatar is feeling the pinch.
I confess, I have checked Al Jazeera’s website for news. I wonder if the website is being shut down along with the channel?
like Air America, no advertisers = bankruptcy... even the rich arabs wouldn't fund it
No, Al Jazeera has indicated that it will continue to target Americans with online propaganda.
They should take MSNBC with them!
Another casualty of fracking!
What a shame. Now John Oliver won’t have his ready made clips of anti-American propaganda to show his leftist HBO audience.
How can they go off the air before beheading the whole staff?
Thank God...
So the apparent payoff was to Algore...for what? The MSM in the us is doing a fine job of propaganda, and they don’t put the squiggles up instead of English. Or was this just another payoff somewhere?
Now I am stuck with Fox and BBC. Never bother with CNN, or NBC,etc. AL actually covered some stories that you will not see elsewhere. I understood their slant and kept that in mind. FR is a great source of news from all points of view.
“Al Jazeera America built a loyal audience across the U.S. “
Uh, yeah. 30,000/night.
The Paint Drying Channel and the Grass Growing Channel would probably get at least that many.
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