The Channel | 2008 | Issue 1

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INTERVIEW | THE CHANNEL
THE CHANNEL | JANUARY08 | 19
now across the world which is
phenomenal within a year of
launch. We have our own
channel on YouTube which is
heavily watched, gets up to
100.000 downloads a day, about
half of them from the States.
Apart from the small cable
deals we have in the States we
are available to American
customers of GlobeCast – there
are almost 2m receivers out
there. We are increasingly active
in places like Latin America,
Asia is an important area for us,
in Africa we are still looking to
expand, so it's on all fronts all
the time, we are strengthening
our distribution team quite
significantly.
You have had a very active
correspondent in
Pakistan. Is AJE being
watched in thecountry?
Yes, it is being widely watched.
We want to be there as the story
develops. I think in Pakistan we
have been ahead of the game
from day one in terms of the
international channels. We have
had a few successes like that
this year – in Burma/Myanmar
we were the only ones who
stayed in reporting after the
crackdown. Everyone stayed
outside and said they weren’t
allowed in - well, we weren't
allowed in either but we still
were there.
How do you see your
relationship with the
other players?
I admire the professionalism of
the established players and
would never underestimate
them, and our job is to catch
them up and overtake them.
Others have got a slightly
different agenda: they have
acknowledged themselves they
are there to put the point of
view of their country. I think
they will struggle for a mass
audience because they will
struggle to be relevant across
borders.
Does Al Jazeera have
plans for more
languages?
It's an idea that's always on the
table but there are no
immediate plans to branch out
into other languages. We need a
▼
Main Image:
Nigel Parsons in
the Al Jazeera
English
newsroom
Top right: Al
Jazeera, Doha
period of consolidation.
Feedback from the
audience – how are you
measuring that?
There are snap surveys of sample
groups on our web site and
unsolicited feedback. The media
itself has been unremittingly positive.
What about non-
traditional platforms – is
traditional TV dying?
If it is dying, it is going to be a very
long and slowdeath. I don’t put all
these different platforms in separate
boxes, I think they are all part of the
same product. The central product, for
the time being anyway, is still TV. In
theMiddle East only 6% are connected
to broadband, so TV has a way to go
here, similarly inAfrica. It is a huge
advantage for us actually that somany
of our audience will rely on TV for
years to come sowe can stand back
andwatch other broadcasters
experiment with all the new toys and
new channels, and sooner or later one
will emerge dominant and that is the
one we will go for.
Nigel Parsons, thankyou for
talking toTheChannel. ■
Launched 15 November 2006
Key personnel Nigel Parsons (Managing Director),
Ibrahim Helal (Deputy MD, News and
Programming), Steve Clark (Director of News and
Programmes)
Funded by the State of Qatar; budget not disclosed
Staff 1000 (a little under half are journalists)
Viewers (households) 100 million
Where available see for
a full list
Mission To be the world’s leading international
English language news network