Al Jazeera English likely to find more success than its Arabic affiliate in gaining access to Canada

As the CRTC awaits comments on the distribution of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera English (AJE) in Canada, two of Canada’s major BDUs have expressed interest in carrying AJE if the CRTC approves the move, according to the president of a company that is acting on AJE’s behalf. Al Jazeera English (AJE) may have an easier time getting picked up by cable and satellite TV in Canada than its affiliated Arabic channel. Slava Levin, the president of Ethnic Channels Group Limited (ECGL), a Toronto-based company acting on AJE’s behalf, tells Tech Media Reports that two of Canada’s major BDUs have already expressed interest in carrying the service if the CRTC gives the green light. The CRTC issued a call May 7 for comments on AJE’s application, which was filed Feb. 27 by Ethnic Channels Group Limited (ECGL), a licensed Canadian broadcaster specializing in third-language programming. The deadline for responses is June 7. Levin, who revealed that Ethnic Channels Group Limited (ECGL) reached an agreement to be AJE’s sponsor five months ago, says he’s encouraged that the CRTC has moved his client’s application to the comments stage. “Everybody has a positive outlook and everything is moving the way it should,” he says in an interview with Tech Media Reports. The move comes after eight months of face-to-face meetings between AJE executives and senior representatives from several BDUs, some of which were concerned about the availability of distribution capacity. Although not privy to the discussions, Levin says AJE representatives told him that two of Canada’s major BDUs have expressed interest in carrying the news channel if the CRTC approves its addition to the Lists of Eligible Satellite Services. However, AJE didn’t disclose the names of the BDUs in a letter to the CRTC. In making its case for distribution, Levin shared a letter from Tony Burman, a former CBC executive and now AJE’s managing director who wrote that the 24-hour-seven-days-a week news channel already caters to 130 million people in more than 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United States. All programming on AJE will be broadcast in English and the channel will also offer business news and sports programming. Burman also said AJE’s news service will not compete with any licensed Canadian pay television or specialty programming services, nor will any of its programs overlap with any domestic services currently on air. Jean Pierre Lefebvre, a broadcast analyst with the CRTC, wrote to Levin on March 17 asking for clarifications on some deficiencies in the application for BDU carriage. Specifically, Lefebvre asked for more details on the programming AJE offers, a statement on whether the channel has a program supply agreement with any Canadian service provider, a breakdown of the times in which AJE intends to use subtitles and secondary audio programming in a language other than English, and a description of programming genres. Burman replied to the CRTC on April 3 saying the AJE has no program supply agreement with Canadian service providers. He also attached a description of AJE’s programs, and gave a breakdown of AJE’s programming genres, of which news forms 90%. He also clarified that AJE will not be carrying subtitles nor will it offer secondary audio programming in other languages. While AJE is affiliated to the Al Jazeera Arabic network, Burman stressed that its programming is different, with the Arabic version focusing more on the Middle East and the English channel includes coverage of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Al Jazeera Arabic network is allowed to be distributed in Canada, but has faced stiff opposition from Jewish groups who accuse it of being a conduit for possible hate speech since the network regularly carries comments by Osama bin Laden. As such, the CRTC has placed strict restrictions that require BDUs to closely monitor the network and censor comments deemed offensive, a move which effectively dissuaded BDUs from carrying it. Levin says he expects a possible ruling on the matter by September and if the CRTC approves AJE’s application, the channel will start negotiations with BDUs.

Al Jazeera English likely to find more success than its Arabic affiliate in gaining access to Canada

Broadcast | May 14, 2009

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