On Monday, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel will be broadcast in New York City for the first time, though only by subletting space from a channel owner. The channel has a foothold in Washington through a similar arrangement and hopes to enter the US market, even as cable companies appear apprehensive. “We will get on in the U.S.,” Al Anstey, the channel's managing director, said confidently in an interview in Manhattan with The New York Times. Al Jazeera English was praised by the United States government and even by a few competitors for its broadcasts from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries earlier this year during the massive uprisings that have ousted two leaders. But it is finding out that cable and satellite distributors like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network control the channels that viewers in the United States can and cannot see. “It's all about leverage in this business, and they don't have any,” said Paul Maxwell, the head of a cable industry consulting firm, was quoted in the same report. For the Arab company, entering the US market has proven difficult at best. In recent years, as more and more viewers interested in the Middle East have turned to online methods of obtaining their news, many have demanded their cable companies provide Al Jazeera with space, but until now, it has not happened. Mark Johnston, a media expert in Minneapolis, told Bikyamasr.com via telecom that operators are “too worried” of the potential negative impact their subscribers would have at a Middle East company on air. “Right now, with the tension between conservatives and others over the role of media and the Arab world, most of these companies won't risk it,” he said, adding that “to be honest, many of the executives within these companies also have a similar global view so getting Al Jazeera in the US is going to be very tricky.” At least New Yorkers will be able to watch, at least for now. BM
