Al Jazeera America
Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera's second entry into the U.S. television market, after the launch of beIN Sports in 2012. The channel, which had persistently low ratings, announced in January 2016 that it would close in April of that year.
Al Jazeera America was headquartered and run from studios on the first floor of the Manhattan Center in New York City. It also had a total of 12 bureaus located in places such as Washington, D.C., at the channel's D.C. studios at the Newseum and Al Jazeera's D.C. hub, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver, Miami, and San Francisco.
The channel was the sister channel of Al Jazeera's international English language news channel Al Jazeera English. Although operated and managed completely separately with America's management based in the United States, the two shared United States studios and bureaus, such as the D.C. hub, and Al Jazeera America ran some of Al Jazeera English's programming and many of its live newscasts alongside its own.
History
Creation
The creation of Al Jazeera America was announced on January 2, 2013, along with the announcement that the network had purchased the user-generated content channel turned progressive-oriented pay television channel Current TV, which had long been struggling in the ratings and after two format changes had announced in October 2012 that it was considering a sale of the channel. It was reported that Al Jazeera planned on shutting down Current TV, keeping its production staff and possibly some programs, and using the company's distribution network to broadcast Al Jazeera America. Current TV, by coincidence, was formerly Newsworld International, an international news channel similar to Al Jazeera America run by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.On July 22, 2013, Al Jazeera America named former ABC News Vice President Kate O'Brian as president of the network, and Ehab Al Shihabi as interim CEO in charge of business affairs. In addition, former CNN veteran David Doss was named Vice President of News Programming and former CBS News executive Marcy McGinnis was named Vice President of News Gathering. Former MSNBC executive Shannon High-Bassalik was named Senior Vice President of Documentaries and Programs.
Al Jazeera said it received more than 21,000 job applications for 400 positions at its U.S. network. Approximately 200 Current TV employees, including some 50 in editorial, were absorbed by the new operation. It planned to have a total of 800 employees at the channel's launch. Al Jazeera America also announced that the channel would employ well-known veteran journalists, anchors, and producers.
On July 3, 2013, Ali Velshi confirmed that Al Jazeera America's launch would take place on August 20, 2013. The launch took place at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on that date, with an hour-long preview special entitled This is Al Jazeera. News coverage began immediately afterward at 4:00 p.m. Al Jazeera America's website launched on August 8, 2013.
Closure
On January 13, 2016, the Al Jazeera Media Network announced that it would shut down Al Jazeera America's pay-TV and online operations on April 30, 2016. The announcement came in the midst of a decline in the price of oil, which negatively impacted the government of Qatar, which provides funding for the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel's last day of operation was later confirmed to be April 12. CNN subsequently reported that the closure would lead to the loss of about 700 jobs.During its history, Al Jazeera America won several media awards, including the Peabody, Emmy, and Shorty Awards and citations from groups such as the National Association of Black Journalists and Native American Journalist Association. However, the network experienced low viewership ratings, averaging between 20,000 and 40,000 viewers on a typical day. In response, the Al Jazeera Media Network sought to shift focus to its digital presence in the United States through ventures such as AJ+.
On February 11, 2016, writing in the television trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, industry pundit Joe Mohen proposed that the business failure of Al Jazeera America was due to its choice of the wrong distribution channel, specifically subscription television as opposed to over-the-top distribution. Mohen argued that distributing content over the internet would have had greater appeal among the young target audience of the network. In March, CNN correspondents Brian Stelter and Tom Kludt cited many reasons for the network's closure, including falling oil prices, low viewership, and poor decision making by Al Jazeera executives – specifically CEO Ehab Al Shihabi. Stelter and Kludt also suggested that political issues could have been a factor in the channel's demise. During the Bush administration, the president and other officials had openly criticized Al Jazeera for airing messages from Al-Qaeda figures. This phenomenon was cited as a potential reason for Al Jazeera America's difficulties in receiving distribution from major pay-TV providers such as Comcast and DirecTV.
On February 26, 2016, the Al Jazeera America website ceased operations. On April 12, Al Jazeera America signed off for the final time. Its final program to air was a live three-hour retrospective film titled "Your Stories" that aired twice from 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time until the shuttering. Antonio Mora and Richelle Carey, the first two anchors to appear on air when it launched in 2013, were the last two anchors to appear as the network signed off the air at 8:59 p.m. Shortly afterwards, a slide was shown with the Al Jazeera logo above a message that read "Al Jazeera America is no longer available. Thank you for watching" with the network's English web address shown below it.
During the time that Al Jazeera America was in existence, Al Jazeera English and AJE programs that were shown on Al Jazeera America were geoblocked in the United States owing to agreements with the carriers of Al Jazeera America. Programs from Al Jazeera English not shown on Al Jazeera America were some of the few unblocked during this time and therefore visible on Al Jazeera English's website. In September 2016, Al Jazeera English's online live stream and the programs that were blocked in the United States during Al Jazeera America's existence were officially unblocked in the United States, making them viewable for the first time since 2013.
Content and programs
It was announced that 60% of the channel's programming would be produced in America, while an additional 40% would come from Al Jazeera English. That was later changed to almost all of the channel's program content being sourced from the United States. In an interview with The New York Times, head of international operations Ehab Al Shihabi said Al Jazeera America's content would on most days primarily concern domestic affairs. However, Shihabi added, "Al Jazeera's seventy bureaus around the world will mean that we will have an unparalleled ability to report on important global stories that Americans are not seeing elsewhere. We will do that when it is warranted."Al Shihabi said that the channel would feature less political discussion and celebrity news and that news gathering would take priority over maximizing profits. Its three-hour morning program was to have a different format focusing on hard news and not "a group of anchors chatting on a couch".
Al Jazeera America aired live programming at all hours, including half-hour news bulletins. Three Al Jazeera English programs that were based in Washington, The Stream, Inside Story and Fault Lines were included on the launch schedule, as well as The Frost Interview and Listening Post. The flagship nighttime show was called America Tonight. It was a weeknight news magazine that presented the day's news in Al Jazeera's long-form style with "stories that are not covered elsewhere".
Al Jazeera America's original senior executive producer for news and special projects was Bob Wheelock, a former senior producer for ABC and NBC News. Wheelock left the network shortly after the launch to head up a political campaign in Delaware. CNN chief business correspondent and the anchor of Your Money, Ali Velshi was the first major name to join Al Jazeera America. He hosted a daily, half-hour show originally called Real Money with Ali Velshi,. The show was originally going to be once a week until the end of 2013 when it was re-launched as a daily show.
File:Newseum by Matthew Bisanz.JPG|thumb|Newseum Home of Al Jazeera America's former premiere D.C. studio and America Tonight
The channel also hired Kim Bondy, a former executive producer with CNN to produce its flagship news program America Tonight, a news magazine program that was hosted by original CNN International anchor and former CBS News correspondent Joie Chen, produced from Al Jazeera America's Newseum studio in Washington, D.C., and featuring correspondents Adam May, Lori Jane Gliha, former CBS, ABC and CBC news correspondent Sheila MacVicar and former Current TV correspondent Christof Putzel. The program presented in-depth segments each night on the economy, government, education, healthcare and the environment, and include breaking news stories. The program also featured work by the Al Jazeera America investigative unit and covers stories in depth from across America, revealing new insights on the news of the day and breaking stories with its own original reporting. America Tonight also incorporated social media interaction on screen and off to reflect the views of its American audience. On July 1, 2013, longtime CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien was hired to be a special correspondent for America Tonight, as well as a deal with her production company Starfish Media Group to produce long-form documentaries for Al Jazeera America.
An American version of the popular Al Jazeera English program The Stream was originally featured on the channel. Produced from Al Jazeera's Washington, D.C. hub, and hosted by veteran journalist and former ABC News correspondent Lisa Fletcher. The show formatted to allow viewers to interact with Fletcher and her guests during the program via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ Hangouts and Skype. The show's social media team and second screen technology enabled viewers to engage 24 hours a day with new content, comments, user-generated videos and a variety of posts. The Stream relied heavily on a variety of online resources and social media tools to connect with people across the United States and around the world. This includes "Storify", which allowed the aggregation of additional information, links, and photos about show topics on the website; "Video Genie", which enables viewers to leave video questions for the show 24–7; and Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Reddit. It also hosted Google+ Hangouts and uses Skype rather than satellite feeds for nearly all guest interviews. Less hard-news orientated than Al Jazeera America's other shows, guests included everyone from civil rights group leaders to Kathy Griffin.
On July 21, 2013, the network hired former Fox News, MSNBC, and Current TV veteran David Shuster to host a show during "the evening hours". Shuster became an analyst on the midday and evening news on the channel as well as a fill in host. It later hired Andrea Stone, most recently of The Huffington Post, and Tony Karon, most recently of Time, to manage both U.S. and global coverage for the channel's website and other digital platforms. The two were responsible for determining the overall editorial direction for the site and were based in New York City.
On July 26, 2013, the network announced that former Good Morning America host and award-winning journalist Antonio Mora would host a current events talk show called Consider This, a program which showcased "hard-hitting interviews and panel discussions on issues important to American viewers". Consider This also featured interactive segments where the audience will join the conversation via social media. The first episode of the show highlighted the hunger strike and court-approved force-feeding in California's prison system. After the show's cancellation during a schedule re-do to raise ratings and lower costs Mora anchored the late news. The show was replaced by a similar program Third Rail.
Kathy Davidov and Cynthia Kane were hired as the senior executive producer and senior producer for its in-house documentary film unit. Davidov came from the National Geographic Channel, where she produced shows such as Border Wars and the Explorer special. Kane came from ITVS, where she managed over 150 projects and worked with the Sundance Channel.
On April 13, 2014, the channel began showing Borderland, a documentary series on illegal immigration which follows six Americans as they retrace the fatal journey of three undocumented migrants who died attempting to cross into the United States. Borderland was the first such documentary series for the channel. A second one called The System focused on the U.S. prison system.