Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Al Jazeera bucks the IPTV cord-cutting trend

We hear criticism of US TV news. Local news tends to feature a lot of "if it bleeds, it leads" stories about crime and police chases. National cable news is highly partisan. Network news is redundant and sound-bite driven.

Al Jazeera has started a new cable offering, Al Jazeera America, which they say will present serious, in-depth news from a global perspective. That sounds pretty good to me. (For more on their coverage philosophy, plans and staff, check this recent OnTheMedia podcast and transcript).

But, it turns out that the cable/satellite companies strong-armed them into dropping their Internet-streaming news service in return for being carried:


So, folks who want Al Jazeera news are now forced to get it as part of an expensive bundle on satellite or cable. As a cord cutter, I am out of luck.

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