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by fwez 5614 days ago
Does anyone know if cable carriers in the US don't carry AJ because of lack of demand or is there documented evidence of active exclusion for business or political reasons?

Please don't take this question as conspiracy theory flame bait. I'm just curious about what is known about this.
2 comments
jhamburger 5614 days ago
Let me put it this way- If I were running a cable company, and I had to make a pure business decision on whether to carry AJE, I wouldn't do it. People were up in arms over a "mosque" several blocks away the WTC site...People were outraged at our President's middle name. there would be a HUGE uproar if cable operators started broadcasting "muslim propaganda" in our homes. I'm talking mass boycotts.
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fwez 5614 days ago
They can watch it and make up their own mind. Can't they?
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RK 5614 days ago
Maybe if we had a la carte cable, but we don't...
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derleth 5614 days ago
If we had a la carte cable, they'd offer what they seriously thought people would specifically seek out and buy. FOX News is a shoo-in, but PBS and Al Jazeera would be much riskier bets.
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jhamburger 5614 days ago
People have been 'buying' PBS for many years now.
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derleth 5614 days ago
True, but how many of those people are there in a given cable provider's market?

A la carte seems like a huge incentive for the cable companies to drop channels, and offer a lesser product for what comes out to be a higher price.

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koenigdavidmj 5614 days ago
You give them far too much credit.
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j_baker 5614 days ago
I don't think so. How can you blame people for being ignorant when they are constantly being bombarded with ignorance coming from the MSM?
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j_baker 5614 days ago
The fact that it's owned by the Qatari government probably wouldn't help things either. Not only is it Middle Eastern, but it's controlled by a foreign government.
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envane 5614 days ago
This was discussed in a Salon article a few days ago:

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/dahl_...

The section "Turning On" describes the process that led Buckeye Cable System in Ohio to start carrying Al Jazeera. I think it directly addresses your question.

This hit the front page a few days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2156195

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