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Al-Jazeera counts down to launch Al-Jazeera counts down to launch
(20 minutes later)
The Arabic television news channel al-Jazeera is about to launch its 24-hour English language service. The Arabic television news channel al-Jazeera is due to begin broadcasting to the world in English on Wednesday.
The new channel will be broadcast around the world with the ambition of providing a different perspective on international events. The channel, which will initially broadcast for 12 hours a day, becomes a 24-hour news operation from 1 January.
Al-Jazeera International plans a 24-hour service from bureaus in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington DC. It will broadcast from studios in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC, in addition to 20 other countries.
The channel is hoping to reach a target audience of 40 million households in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. Al-Jazeera English, as it is now known, says it is on course to reach 80 million homes - double its target - in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Ten years after al-Jazeera revolutionised Arab language television, the network is about to try do the same in English - but this will be a much harder task. In the United States, the channel will be available via a broadband internet connection, but not distributed by a major cable or satellite system.
In the Middle East, al-Jazeera's Arabic news channel is known for its forthright style, frank journalism and willingness to discuss taboo issues.
This has made it a thorn in the side of governments from Washington to Riyadh, says the BBC's Ian Pannell, in Cairo.
'Middle Eastern feel'
Originally due to launch in 2005, the station employs some 800 people from 55 countries and hopes to bring a different perspective to international events.
We will be getting our reaction, first and foremost, from the Middle East Felicity Barr, presenter
"It is definitely an international channel, but it's certainly going to have a Middle Eastern feel about it," one of the channel's presenters, Felicity Barr, told the BBC.
"The instant reaction for, say, a Western organisation, is to get analysis from the United States or from the UK," she explained.
"We will be getting our reaction, first and foremost, from the Middle East."
The channel is hoping to revolutionise English language television in the same way it revolutionised Arab language television 10 years ago.
But, our correspondent says this will be a much harder task.
Established rivalsEstablished rivals
Al-Jazeera's achievement in the Middle East was to break a monopoly on information held by governments and state broadcasters. Al-Jazeera's achievement in the Middle East was to break a monopoly on information held by governments and state broadcasters, our correspondent says.
The channel's forthright style, its frank journalism and willingness to discuss taboo issues has made it the most popular broadcaster in the region and a thorn in the side of governments from Washington to Riyadh. But the international market is already much more developed with well established rivals in the BBC and CNN.
Al-Jazeera says it wants to bring this approach to world news but here the market is already much more developed with well established rivals in the BBC and CNN. "One of our goals is to reverse the flow of information to the south," Wadah Khanfar, director general of the al-Jazeera Group explained to Reuters news agency.
The question for some in the region is whether the new channel will be as outspoken as its sister station and whether it will adopt a similar editorial stance. While, the hope is that a major English-language channel operating from the Middle East will give the Arab world a global voice, our correspondent says the launch will simply be a moment of pride.
There have already been reports of differences between the two channels. But, he adds, the question for some in the region is whether the new channel will be as outspoken as its sister station and whether it will adopt a similar editorial stance.
But for many in the region this will simply be a moment of pride.
For the first time a major English-language channel will be operated from the Middle East and the hope is that it will give the Arab world a global voice.