Al Jazeera may air

EchoStar talks with controversial Arab channel about carrying English spinoff

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 22, 2006 at midnight

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EchoStar's Dish Network is the only cable or satellite operator in the U.S. publicly willing to consider carrying controversial Arab news channel Al Jazeera's planned English-language spinoff.

Even on Dish, Al Jazeera's attempt to provide an alternative to Western news outlets like BBC World and CNN International isn't likely to appear on any of the satellite-TV operator's popular programming tiers.

"We have several offers and options under consideration, including with EchoStar, but have not yet signed anything," said Rana Jazayerli, a Washington-based spokeswoman for the news channel. "We will make our plans public after we have finalized."

Comcast, which has 700,000 subscribers in Colorado, has had "preliminary conversations" about carrying the network, said spokeswoman Cindy Parsons. She declined further comment, citing the cable operator's policy of not discussing programming negotiations.

DirecTV, the largest satellite-TV operator with 15 million customers, also has talked to Al Jazeera International but "doesn't have any plans to carry it right now," said Jade Ekstedt, spokeswoman for the El Segundo, Calif.-based company.

Douglas County-based EchoStar, whose Dish Network has 12 million subscribers, is interested because a nascent news channel fits with the company's strategy of offering the most international programming, with 126 channels in 28 languages available.

"We would be willing to consider carriage, since we provide the most Arabic channels in the United States," said spokeswoman Kathie Gonzalez. "But we don't release details or status of negotiations with any new channels."

Dish carries 15 Arabic channels through its three tiers of Arabic programming. Those packages, which range from $26 to $40 a month, are sold separately from basic programming.

Dish has carried the Arabic-language Al Jazeera news channel since 1999. Dish doesn't release subscriber figures for various packages, Gonzalez said, and declined to say whether it has received any complaints.

Just where Al Jazeera International would fit in Dish Network's programming lineup is reportedly a matter of dispute. Lindsay Oliver, the network's commercial director, told Broadcasting & Cable that Dish has only offered the network carriage on an Arabic tier, and Al Jazeera International wants wider distribution. Both Dish's Gonzalez and Al Jazeera International's Jazayerli declined to comment.

Al Jazeera gained the attention - and sometimes the ire - of America following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Qatar-based network is often the first recipient of Osama bin Laden's videotaped tirades, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused it of promoting terrorism and spreading "vicious lies."

The international spinoff will reportedly be more mainstream, avoiding tapes showing hostages.

The nearly 10-year-old network has also won praise for offering dissenting views, prompting Middle Eastern governments to complain about the independence of its reporting.

Even without Al Jazeera's reputation as a political lightning rod, analysts say it's nearly impossible for any new network not owned by a cable operator to get carriage these days. Cable companies are wary of paying fees for yet another channel when they already offer hundreds of others.

"While Al Jazeera International might have politics wrapped around it, they might as well be Al Bruce" in terms of its likelihood of getting distribution, said Bruce Leichtman, president of media analysis firm Leichtman Research Group. "You can take any one of the handful of new channels, and they're all in the same position."

Even without U.S. distribution, Al Jazeera International expects to have about 40 million viewers worldwide. It's already secured a spot on BSkyB, a British satellite system partially owned by Rupert Murdoch as well as with distributors in India, Australia and France.

Experts don't expect Al Jazeera International to draw a mass audience in a TV universe that already has three broadcast networks and three 24-hour news networks.

"The competition for eyeballs is enormous," said Richard Wald, the Fred Friendly Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Al Jazeera International faces the additional tricky problem that what makes Arabic Al Jazeera unique - it provides a window into the Arab view of the U.S. and international news events - might be lost when the news is produced and delivered largely by Western journalists, Wald said.

The network's high-profile recent hires include BBC interviewer Sir David Frost and former ABC News Nightline correspondent David Marash. The network is run by Nigel Parsons, formerly of the BBC and The Associated Press.

Al Jazeera International will still be based in Qatar and share some reporting resources with its Arabic counterpart. It plans changes to accommodate cultural tastes, such as refraining from showing footage of dead or dying people as does the Arab-language network.

Clifford May, president of the advocacy group Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, is skeptical of Al Jazeera's assertions that its English-based network will feature objective reporting.

"Al Jazeera's main purpose is not to deliver the news," May said. Much of the programming on the Arab-language channel reflects "a militant Islamist ideology," he said, and "I would certainly urge anyone considering carriage to keep a careful eye on its content."

Al Jazeera International plans to launch sometime this year after it completes construction of its new headquarters in Qatar as well as four broadcast centers worldwide. The network is also testing new technology that will allow broadcasts in high definition.

"There is too much at stake, and we owe too much to our viewers to launch on an arbitrary deadline," Jazayerli said.

On EchoStar

• EchoStar's Dish Network offers more than 126 international channels in 28 languages. Among them:

• Viva TV (Filipino)

• 3A TELESUD (French African)

• ProSiebenSat.1 Welt (German)

• Kino Polska (Polish)

• South Asia World (Indian)

• SPT (Portugese)

• CCTV-4 (Chinese)

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