Al Jazeera America, debuting 8/20, will compete with CNN, Fox News and MSNBC for news eyes, but it won’t launch with many advertisers, says a NY Post story. The network is having a tough time persuading Madison Avenue to buy airtime on a channel perceived as anti-American.
The network launches with just six minutes of commercial time an hour — less than half the typical ad load of a cable news channel. Most of those will be in-house promos and local ad spots as national advertisers shun the controversial network, said the story.
The Mideast news outlet, funded by the government of Qatar, is aiming for an American audience despite a deep distrust in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Iraq war. Qatar spent $500 million to buy Current TV, Al Gore’s struggling news network.
The network has started running ads in The New Yorker and major US media publications asking audiences to give it a chance and promising that its global perspective will “change the way you look at news.”
While Al Jazeera is spinning the lack of ads as a positive for viewers, behind the scenes it is having a tough time persuading Madison Avenue to buy airtime on a network perceived as anti-American.
“I wouldn’t give them a dime, especially since we are in New York,” one advertiser told the paper. “They’re owned by an Arab country and they ran the [Osama] bin Laden tapes. I just wouldn’t trust them,” he said, referring to Al Jazeera’s role in gaining access to the late al Qaeda leader.
A major ad agency buyer who was pitched on the channel was even more blunt: “Not touching that one.”
“[Advertisers] have been especially interested in our decision to limit the number of commercial minutes each hour and how our commitment to fact-based, unbiased and in-depth reporting appeals to the same audience they are trying to reach,” an Al Jazeera spokesperson said.
CEO Ehab Al Shihabi acknowledged last week surveys showed 75% of Americans hadn’t seen any Al Jazeera coverage but still had a negative view of it, though he added that sentiment often softened once people viewed it.
Ex-NBC News anchor John Seigenthaler will host its nightly newscast at 8 p.m. It will be followed by a magazine-style show hosted by CNN vet Joie Chen. Another former CNN face, Soledad O’Brien, is on board. Former CNN business journalist Ali Velshi will host a 7 p.m. show called “Real Money.”
Al Jazeera America will launch in only about 50 million homes, or about half the country’s pay-TV households. It won’t be carried by Time Warner Cable or Cablevision, although Verizon FiOS offers it.
RBR-TVBR observation: The way Al Jazeera America may be able to get a foothold is reporting on stories and being in places in the Mideast that no other network can do. As Mideast turmoil continues, the viewing public may just decide to “check Al Jazeera” to get deeper coverage of what’s going on over there. If the network proves itself with good journalism and eventually ratings, we may see some decent ad buys here in the states. But it needs more carriage. In the meantime, we doubt the network is going anywhere with the deep pockets behind it.
