| NEW
DELHI: Al Jazeera, which is launching an English language international news channel
around May this year, has earmarked India as an important market. According
to Al Jazeera International’s commercial director Lindsey Oliver, the channel
plans to partner with some local companies for distribution purpose. “India is an incredibly important
market for us, but first we are looking at being present on all important carriers
(cable networks) to create an awareness,” Oliver, who was recently in Delhi, told
Indiantelevision.com in an exclusive chat. And, it was evident from
the hectic meetings that the channel’s senior executives from headquarters Doha
and local ones had with a cross section of the broadcast and cable industry. However, she added that Al
Jazeera International is not focusing on any one particular market or few geographical
areas. Instead, it’s looking at a wider global canvas. “We are looking at building
awareness and distribution all across the globe instead of getting big market
share in certain markets,” Oliver explained. To be beamed off Pas10, Al
Jazeera International has already set up shop in India with a bureau headed by
Anmol Saxena, who has been in the business of television for some years now. Saxena’s
company has arranged for pubcaster Doordarshan coverage of the Iraq invasion by
the US and produced documentaries like one Mohd Ali Jinnah for Zee News,
amongst other works done for various networks. Oliver feels that after six
months of launch, Al Jazeera International would look at expanding its activities
in India by possibly going in for local distribution tie-ups. Though Al
Jazeera shot into fame via its Arabic channel during the Iraq invasion by the
US that reveled in giving a platform to terrorist outfit Al Qaida, Oliver feels
that the international English channel would “not go out of its way to court controversy.” “Like
any other international news channel, ours also would have news from all round
the globe. But just as CNN is an international channel with an American perspective
and BBC is one with a British outlook, we’ll be a global news channel with a Middle
Eastern perspective,” Oliver spelt out the channel’s positioning. Interestingly,
Al Jazeera’s Arabic feed telecasts exclusively on certain time bands on the Rajat
Sharma-controlled India TV news channel. Al Jazeera International would
be the world’s first English language news channel to be headquartered in the
Middle East and the channel’s broadcasting centres will be located in Doha, Kuala
Lumpur, London and Washington DC. An InterBrand’s 2004 global survey ranked
Al Jazeera as the world’s most influential brand among all media networks and
as the world’s fifth most influential brand behind Apple, Google, IKEA and Starbucks. | 
