Al Jazeera America: Do Americans Really Buy It?

AL Jazeera America was practically called Current TV in August 1, 2005 when it was first launched and it had a good amount of about 31, 000 viewers which is practically not bad for a recently launched news channel. However, the latter then got owned by Al Jazeera and was replaced to become Al Jazeera America instead and it got launched on August 20, 2013 with 13, 000 viewers.

            What is not known to most of the audience is that The Blaze, an independent libertarian conservative and international TV channel first presented the deal of buying Current TV but they rather failed. Former American Vice President and a 20 percent owner of Al Jazeera America got paid $100 million of the total $500 million with which the Current TV was bought gained American distribution of the channel.

            Al Jazeera America is a Qatar based broadcasting news channel with Ahmed Bin Jasmi Al Thani – a member of the Qatari royal family – as its Director General. Was the move of launching Al Jazeera America really worth it? To decide the success of any channel, news or not, we should look at its viewership depending on where it is broadcasted and at the impact it has on the people of the respective country where its launched.

            Is no one really watching Al Jazeera America in the United States and why? According to Ad Age, an advertising magazine that focuses on marketing aspects of many brands, the channel is not even getting half the number of the previous Current TV had. It has an average of 15, 000 viewers with 5,000 viewers in the 25 to 45 year old audience members category. What could be the reason for that? Many people feel more comfortable watching MSNBC, CNN or even Fox News – who are clear opponents - over Al Jazeera. The reason for that is that people don’t want hearsays and biased opinions.

            Well, tough memories aren’t easy to forget. The Americans will not forget the time when Al Jazeera English displayed the attacks of 9/11 from a rather very biased point of view. They broadcasted the Muslims waving flags and celebrating the World Trade Center Twin Tower Attack instead of viewing the victims and trying to find the killer. Al Jazeera even now broadcasted Al Jazeera English Coverage 9/11 Twelve Years later and you can find it by a click of a button on Youtube. “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6LnSVRf4jk.”Is this documentary shot to correct a mistake or is it another mistake? No one tries making up for their actions unless they know they committed a mistake that should be corrected. Al Jazeera lost many of their audience the day the attack happens and people are not willing to forget.

            On the other hand, Al Jazeera is Arabic name which means Island and many people made sure of their gut feelings that Arabs are terrorists when Al Jazeera English should the happiness of the Muslims pre the attacks. The Americans know for sure it is an Qatar or at least an Arab based country and they are not willing to believe Arab, terrorist biased opinions and that is why this is a loss-loss situation for both Arabs and the Middle Easterners.

            When a channel has no trustworthiness from the people it is broadcasted for, it will never succeed.