Transcript Slide 1

Buying & Selling
International Programming
Phil Lawrie
Director, Global Distribution
Al Jazeera Network
Al Jazeera Network
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News, Sport & Documentary channels
Arabic & English
4000 staff
120 nationalities
Headquartered in Doha, Qatar
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Al Jazeera Satellite Channel (AJA) launched in 1996
– “The Opinion & The Other Opinion”
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Al Jazeera English (AJE) launched in November 2006
– News from a developing world perspective
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AJA & AJE combined have 69 bureaux worldwide
Al Jazeera’s Newsgathering Reach
GLOBALLY
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Al Jazeera (Arabic & English
combined) has 69 bureaux worldwide
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AJE has 4 x Broadcast Centres: Doha,
London, Washington, Kuala Lumpur
IN AFRICA
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Al Jazeera currently has 13 bureax in Africa
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AJE is developing a sizeable News Centre in Nairobi that will significantly
enhance the channel’s ability to cover the African continent
The power of Al Jazeera
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Brand – one of the most recognisable and
powerful brands in the world
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Integrity – the Al Jazeera Code of Ethics
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Perspective – balancing the established Western
news agenda / the “human” angle
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Award-winning
– Monte Carlo Television Festival 2008
• Best News Programme - News Hour
– Royal Television Society Awards 2008
• Young Journalist Of The Year
– Amnesty International Television & Radio Awards 2008
• International Documentary
– International Emmy Awards 2008 Nominations
• Current Affairs
Setting The News Agenda
What are we selling?
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Linear channels
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Programming blocks
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Individual programmes for syndication
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Archive clips
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Digital services
– Internet TV & VOD
– Mobile TV & VOD
– Other mobile services (SMS, MMS)
How are we doing?
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AJA available in 52 million households worldwide
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AJE available in 126 million households worldwide
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AJE available in 13 million households in Africa (15 million from 1st Oct 08)
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that
there are many more hills to climb”
Nelson Mandela
What challenges do we face?
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Capacity
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Regulatory bureaucracy
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Rights
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“Baggage” & myths
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Timing of new deployments
– HD
– Digital media services
– Localized services
Opportunities: HD & Digital Media
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Fully digitized, fully HD newsroom &
newsgathering
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When to deploy HD services with
distribution platforms?
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Al Jazeera = #1 news channel on YouTube
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Free internet TV live stream in selected
territories = need for geo-targeting
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Web & mobile VOD services
How are we delivering success?
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“Glocal” Approach
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Embracing multiple media
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Knowing what rights we hold
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Knowing our platform partners
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Knowing our audience