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Why do we have Current TV but not Al-Jazeera?

I'd be curious to know where those 40 million homes are coming from. RFD and CurrentTV are both part of the basic DirecTV package. Most cable companies I've sen put them in some premium digital tier, if they offer them at all. Neither of these networks really markets itself in other media. In other words, there are millions of DirecTV customers receiving RFD or CurrentTV who probably don't know what programs the two networks carry.

Plus, I would bet that if Al-Jazeera English were carried, most cable companies would receive complaints containing the word "infidel."
 
Most cable systems also don't offer other up and coming world news channels such as France 24 or RT -- the latter formerly-known as "Russia Today" and includes some American-oriented programming such as "The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann".
 
Good man tripinva, I'm proud of ya. ;o)

I am considering getting another receiver for another room in my flat and have never used a Coolsat box (heard of the brand tho.) How well does your 6000 work?
 
Darth_vader said:
Good man tripinva, I'm proud of ya. ;o)

I am considering getting another receiver for another room in my flat and have never used a Coolsat box (heard of the brand tho.) How well does your 6000 work?
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Well, from what I understand, the company is out of business, so don't expect any support.

As for how it works, I don't really have any way to compare it with other boxes. It has blind scan which makes me really happy, the signal quality meter takes some getting used to, and I'm not sure that the picture quality is the way it is because it comes that way off the satellite or because of the box--it's not amazing, but I'm not being too picky, I bought it because the price was right.

Down the line I'd like to get something like the AZBox but not until I have a permanent, motorized FTA setup where I'd actually use DVB-S2 and whatnot.

- Trip
 
Good article and kudos for the mention of how 'package deals' exert undue influence on the gatekeepers at cable TV companies. Fact is, there are a number of excellent news channels available worldwide that are not offered anywhere (or almost anywhere) on cable here. Al Jazeera's English language news channel is one of these; the absence of BBC World is even more glaring as it's available practically everywhere else on Earth.

In the Chicago area, RT seems to be carried 24/7 on a public access channel (103, I think). It offers some interesting stories about parts of the world that may not normally be discussed on our usual news channels. Their coverage is very skewed to the political left as far as US political and foreign affairs are concerned, which is probably why Thom Hartmann has found a home there. Despite their thorough coverage of issues in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, I'd imagine that many Americans may find certain segments of Al Jazeera's programming to be disagreeable as well. Particularly those involving Israel or US politics. Nonetheless, I think it is important that ALL points of view be offered and that the addition of these channels to the average American's cable system would be (at the minimum) a public service.

Surely we could do with three less crap shopping channels to make room for the likes of RT, AJ and BBC World. can't we?!? If, for no other reason, to see what the rest of the world is watching.
 
BRNout said:
Good article and kudos for the mention of how 'package deals' exert undue influence on the gatekeepers at cable TV companies. Fact is, there are a number of excellent news channels available worldwide that are not offered anywhere (or almost anywhere) on cable here. Al Jazeera's English language news channel is one of these; the absence of BBC World is even more glaring as it's available practically everywhere else on Earth.

In the Chicago area, RT seems to be carried 24/7 on a public access channel (103, I think). It offers some interesting stories about parts of the world that may not normally be discussed on our usual news channels. Their coverage is very skewed to the political left as far as US political and foreign affairs are concerned, which is probably why Thom Hartmann has found a home there. Despite their thorough coverage of issues in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, I'd imagine that many Americans may find certain segments of Al Jazeera's programming to be disagreeable as well. Particularly those involving Israel or US politics. Nonetheless, I think it is important that ALL points of view be offered and that the addition of these channels to the average American's cable system would be (at the minimum) a public service.

Surely we could do with three less crap shopping channels to make room for the likes of RT, AJ and BBC World. can't we?!? If, for no other reason, to see what the rest of the world is watching.
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We should have less crap on TV such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC because they have evolved to propaganda networks and have al-jazeera I saw some of it and to me they look more saner and neutral to the news .
 
recto101 said:
We should have less crap on TV such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC because they have evolved to propaganda networks...
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I wouldn't shed a tear if Fox News permanently goes dark today -- they seem to have nothing but crap these days, especially Glenn Beck, who practically makes Art Bell and George Noory seem more like Paul Harvey and Casey Kasem.

As for MSNBC -- it's not necessarily the propaganda, but rather the fact that their newsroom is closed on weekends; when Egypt fell, MSNBC stuck with showing endless repeats of prison documentaries.
 
RT recently showed up on the basic digital tier of my TWC system here in Rochester. At least, I think it happened recently - I noticed it for the first time a couple of weeks ago.
 
RT has a portion of their programming available on Mhz Worldview, for those who have access to them, either OTA on their PBS or non-commercial independent station, cable, or satellite. I don't remember if some of Al-Jazeera news is on Mhz Worldview or not. For 24 hour access, we probably won't see it offered on many cable systems.
 
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