Al Jazeera English from The Shard

AJAM's problem was their name from the beginning. The reputation the Arabic language channel gained in the US during the all the wars for airing certain videos etc tainted Americans viewpoint of the channel and anything associated with it. I actually usually watch AJAM and like the work they do, and also CNNi. CNN USA is usually a miss for me, unless a major domestic story breaks. But I knew the name would be the albatross around its neck. AlJazeera used the BeInSports branding in the US. I wonder if it would have made sense to create something new rather than use the AJAM branding. Because obviously for the average American they arent gonna to watch, especially with the perceived suspicions surrounding anything Arabic, with all the problems and wars, etc. I dont think the logo helps. I dont have a proplem with it. Im just saying for the average person thats not media anorak or very much interested in international news it might raise suspicions. Its sad because AJAM is quite a good channel and they do report under-reported stories. And its nice to watch news thats not all screaming "analysts",shouty blondes, endless nerdy blowhard political chat.

They;ve got deep pockets...we'll see what happens.

But I would argue that the types of people who are interested in a serious world news channel are not the types of people who are scared off by the "Al Jazeera" name. It tends to be the less informed and the poorly educated who have a problem with Al Jazeera -- and they would never watch AJAM regardless of what its name happened to be. (BTW, I'm sure AJ conducted extensive pre-launch market research on its name and branding.)

I think a bigger problem for AJAM is the fact that most Americans have been conditioned to get their in-depth international news online (and, to some extent, BBC World News on PBS), rather than from cable news.

I believe that Al Jazeera America did try their hardest but people wanted AJE and not a regional channel so to speak. Not to mention that it infuriated people who wanted AJE when it was geo-blocked and people couldn't find Al Jazeera America (per the deal with carriers, AJAM could not be streamed online)

To your point on getting news online, that is why CBS News went the online only approach for CBSN: Straightforward news, no gimmicks and no branded sets with social media corners or political punditry programming.

New studios and facilities for AJAM already?



- Internal memo from Ehab Al Shihabi, via TVNewser

I'm almost sure that the current studio in New York is just rented space, I think the plan was always to eventually move into 'proper' studios - the money and investment going into it surely shows that they do have a future with AJAM apart of it.

The Washington centre move has been due for a long time. As I understand it they had a bit of trouble setting it up due to the hostility towards AJ and it was less than ideal. Though it did end up sharing with the existing AJA office which none of the others did

That might be true for some but for advertisers and cable providers they know its a hard sell for most Americans because of Alajeeras perceived "reputation". The people interested in international news, its not a sizeable audience, but I dont think thats AJAM's real problem. I regularly watch. But its carriage and their reputation and the possibility that the news market is super crowded in the US. This has been an ongoing discussion.



http://www.denverpost.com/television/ci_23872310/al-jazeera-america-has-money-top-journalists-and

http://www.adweek.com/news/television/some-advertisers-view-al-jazeera-america-too-risky-151924

Al Jazeera English has a new website!

Very handsome, no obvious clues to a new look however.

Al Jazeera Balkans is expending the hours of live news from tomorrow, with extra 30 minute news bulletins at 14.00, 15.00, 21.00 and 00.00 plus the usual newshours at 16.00,18.00,20.00 and 22.00 cet. The channel will also introduce a new on-screen visual identity. Not sure if this means AJE will do the same.

http://teve.ba/article/20144/novosti-na-al-jazeera-balkans

The photo in that article looks a lot like the title animation for the newscasts on AJAM.