TVSquad

Arab news network Al Jazeera launched an English language network almost half a year ago. But the network hasn't had much luck getting on air in the United States, where many broadcasters consider Al Jazeera to be biased against America and Israel.

So what does Al Jazeera do? They go and partner up with YouTube, creating an online channel for their material. The channel went live today, and while the introductory video has been watched a couple thousand views, most of the actual news stories have only been clicked on a few times so far.

After months of delays the English language Al-Jazeera channel is finally ready to go. Plans call for the new network to broadcast around the clock with 12 hours a day devoted to live news while the other 12 go to interviews, features, and analysis. Like the current Al-Jazeera, the International version will also be headquartered in Doha, Qatar. There will also be newsrooms in London, Washington, and Kuala Lumpur.

The channel's chief competitors will be CNN International and BBC World. As would be expected, Al-Jazeera International will specialize in news from the Middle East and executives promise news with an Arab perspective. No deals have been announced to broadcast the channel in the US, but negotiations are ongoing. The goal for launch is to have the channel available in 30 to 40 million homes worldwide.

Al-Jazeera International, with offices in Qatar, London, Washington, and Kuala Lumpur, was supposed to debut in the United States back in May, but several issues caused the Middle East network to miss its target date, and no new date has been set. Four hours of the broadcast day would have been dedicated to news out of Washington with a focus on such things as environmental and human rights issues. Besides some apprehension over the network due to current US involvement in wars in two Islamic countries, Al-Jazeera International also faces the obstacle of not having any carriers in the United States willing to show it. Dish Network currently carries Al-Jazeera, but has not agreed to show Al-Jazeera International.