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Why can't people in US watch Al Jazeera?
- araneae 16y agoThey can. http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
- spooneybarger 16y agoWhenever I try, it barely works and usually crashes. Right now, barely works would be a kind description. The stations I get via cable/sat tv etc don't have scaling problems of this sort. They might have crap coverage and you could argue that is a scaling issue of some sort but.. at least I can manage to watch.
- Luc 16y agoThey use Brightcove. It's rock solid for me (in Belgium), and better video quality than the BBC feed.
- knowledgesale 16y agoare you saying you can watch bbc online?
- JonnieCache 16y agoonly if you're in the uk :( get yourself a UK hosted vps an set up a tunnel.
- BigZaphod 16y agoWorks great for me in the US. I've been watching it off and on the last couple days from different locations and different ISPs.
- ComputerGuru 16y agoThere's an alternate feed available from livestation in both SD and HD editions. http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english And a RealPlayer live stream, which (as much as RealPlayer sucks) may be a better choice than Flash. But it's pretty low-def: http://europe.real.com/smil/aljazeera_us_lo.ram http://europe.real.com/smil/aljazeera_us_lo.ram
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- w1ntermute 16y ago> as much as RealPlayer sucks No need for RealPlayer. Just get Media Player Classic Home Cinema (http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/) and Real Alternative (http://www.filehippo.com/download_real_alternative/ http://www.filehippo.com/download_real_alternative/). With that combination, RealMedia streams have become one of my favorites. You can do the same with QuickTime, by getting QuickTime Lite (http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/ http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/).
- ComputerGuru 16y agoI don't think they do live streams. I'm on Mac, and usually use VLC to watch RealPlayer files, but I couldn't get to the RealPlay live media (.ram files).
- w1ntermute 16y agoMPC-HC + RealAlternative can play RealMedia files that VLC (and MPlayer) can't. But this is the best option (IMHO): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2156494 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2156494
- spooneybarger 16y agoWhen I went to that earlier today, they had up the 'site overloaded' message. Now I get 10-15 seconds of video followed by a couple minutes of what I assume is buffering and repeat.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- warmfuzzykitten 16y agoSeems to work fine for me. Have you checked the speed of your network connection?
- jdp23 16y agoI was really surprised to see the parent downvoted. There's useful personal experience here, as well as a valid observation about an advantage broadcast and cable have only internet-only access.
- InclinedPlane 16y agoIndeed, this is the 21st century, where 2/3 of adult Americans have a broadband internet connection at home.
- spot 16y agoYou are reading the title too literally. They just left off "on TV" because it's obvious from context.
- silentbicycle 16y agoI didn't think it was obvious from context, either (though I've been watching the English Al Jazeera stream).
- coin 16y agoIt's obvious after reading the article.
- araneae 16y agoYou are reading the comment too literally. It was more of an "FYI" than a rebuttal.
- knowledgesale 16y agoAlso, to watch things on demand, there is a youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish http://www.youtube.com/user/AlJazeeraEnglish
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- CountSessine 16y agoIt's surprising just how good a new source Al Jazeera is. I wish my cable operator let me subscribe to Al Jazeera in lieu of CNN.
- arethuza 16y agoYou could probably get it from a "free to air" satellite broadcast.
- teraflop 16y agoYep, here are the frequencies and technical specifications: http://english.aljazeera.net/watchaje/20091022172112636517.html http://english.aljazeera.net/watchaje/20091022172112636517.h...
- nodata 16y agoIn all seriousness, they could generate the news on CNN with an algorithm and it would be immensely better than what they pump out now.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoCNN isn't generated by an algorithm? I thought they were just scraping twitter.
- eschulte 16y agothen call your cable provider and ask that Al Jazeera be added to the lineup, if they get enough of these requests they will act on them, the only question is how much is enough
- jat850 16y agoIn Canada, at least two cable operators that I know of offer Al Jazeera as a subscription channel.
- nkassis 16y agoYeah satellite (Bell) has it available. I was going to change my channels soon, I might see if it's worth it. I'd also like BBC in HD.
- Isofarro 16y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_English -- lists loads of options for watching, from online, to terrestrial, cable, to satellite, to Internet TV.
- gnosis 16y agoDoes anyone have a direct link to a feed that can be loaded up in mplayer or vlc?
- getsat 16y agoThere is a large subset of the US population that would distrust any information from an Arabic source. BBC, Reuters, and Al Jazeera are amazing compared to CNN/MSNBC/FOX.
- borism 16y agodoes Reuters have their own TV channel?
- getsat 16y agoNot that I'm aware of, but their research/stories are cited as sources by a large number of news outlets and their video footage is seen constantly.
- berntb 16y ago>>There is a large subset of the US population that would distrust any information from an Arabic source. There are reasons for that. For example, the state controlled/censored media in the muslim world are infamous for antisemitic hate mongering. (State sanctioned racism... what does that remind you of?) A second problem is that I have no idea about the spin in Al Jazeera (except for their host country). Does anyone? I can make good guesses on what to not trust in e.g. my local media and NY Times (mainly big advertisers). Note: I'm not arguing that all (or even most) media in the US are more dependable than e.g. Bild zeitung. Edit: I thought I should add a reference about antisemitic content in Arab media, so I checked Wikipedia and found a reference -- to Al Jazeera! (That isn't that heavily censored by any state. But fun enough that I added a separate comment with the quote.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_antisemitism#Yusuf_al-Qaradawi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_antisemitism#Yusuf_al...
- ahendriksen 16y agoMEMRI is a Israeli non-profit organisation to "aid the understanding of the Middle-East". It is not by any means objective. Its goal is mostly to find inflammatory or antisemitic fragments in Middle Eastern media and provide them to a Western audience. I looked at the fragment on the MEMRI site and it was devoid of any context. Airing a speech does not imply endorsement. (Most, if not all, American media outlets have shown Iran's Ahmadinejad tirades against Israel, for example). tl;dr: Take Israel's PR department with a grain of salt.
- Duff 16y agoAfter watching about 45 minutes of inane coverage of Egypt on CNN and Fox, probably because they are controlled by an offshore entity and don't offer a point of view remarkably in line with whatever Washington is putting out.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- r11t 16y agoFor Linux users wanting to watching without using browser + flash, using mplayer + rtmpdump: rtmpdump -v -r rtmp://livestfslivefs.fplive.net/livestfslive-live/ -y "aljazeera_en_veryhigh?videoId=747084146001&lineUpId=&pubId=665003303001&playerId=751182905001&affiliateId=" -W "http://admin.brightcove.com/viewer/us1.24.04.08.2011-01-14072625/federatedVideoUI/BrightcovePlayer.swf -p "http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ -a "aljazeeraflashlive-live?videoId=747084146001&lineUpId=&pubId=665003303001&playerId=751182905001&affiliateId=" | mplayer -
- borism 16y agojust pulled rtmpdump from macports (I already have mplayer, of course) and I can confirm it works on mac too... except their rtmp provider seems to be getting killed right now. I would recommend switching to Livestation, quality isn't as good, but at least it works (on Linux too).
- landslidepurist 16y ago^ Works with vlc too.
- berntb 16y agoWell, there seems to be much interesting information missed from the US air waves... :-) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_antisemitism#Yusuf_al-Qaradawi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_antisemitism#Yusuf_al... In a sermon, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 9, 2009 [...] "Oh Allah, take your enemies, the enemies of Islam. Oh Allah, take the Jews, the treacherous aggressors. Oh Allah, take this profligate, cunning, arrogant band of people. [...] Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one." Edit: I quoted (from Wikipedia) the content of the TV channel people want to show in the western world. Down voting is for lack of counter arguments? Edit 2: I think it is really funny that I get downvoted a lot for noting that antisemitic hatred and prayers for genocide are sent on Al J -- the non-English one...
- borism 16y agocause they get their share of antisemitism from Fox: http://mediamatters.org/research/200807020002 http://mediamatters.org/research/200807020002
- berntb 16y agoYou defend Al Jazeera's (with other muslim media) airing of antisemitic content -- because Fox News is garbage? I can't see any other way how criticism of Fox can be relevant to what I wrote. And your argument's logic was worthy of Fox. Edit: I had a joke (HUMOR PARENTHESIS!) in a comment that "much interesting information was missing". Then I quoted a prayer for genocide of people of another religion from Al Jazeera. I DID NOT A CLAIM THAT THERE IS NO ANTI SEMITISM IN US MEDIA (hardly organized racism at least, it is taboo in the western world). I might also add -- you understood that. Edit 2: Anyway, it was really funny that you got up voted so much for that -- and I've been down voted in two threads for showing that Al J has extreme racist content...
- borism 16y agowhere did I sound like I was defending Al Jazeera's antisemitism? You claimed that US airwaves lack antisemitism and I refuted your claim.
- seiha 16y agoAl Jazeera is freely available over FTA through GlobeCast worldtv. http://www.globecastwtv.com/America/WhatsOnWTV/FreeToAirOnly.aspx?Encrypted=Free-to-Air http://www.globecastwtv.com/America/WhatsOnWTV/FreeToAirOnly...
- kingkawn 16y agoI've had the website on for two days straight, it has hardly even staggered. The coverage is amazing.
- jwcacces 16y agobecause americans are afraid of everything
- chunkyslink 16y agoThats why they carry guns. They are even afraid of each other. Amazing.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago>Thats why they carry guns. They are even afraid of each other. They should be afraid, they've all got guns.
- iuguy 16y agoThe reason people in the US can't watch Al Jazeera on TV is because it doesn't fit into the US MSM model. Modern US news isn't about news, it's about opinion and entertainment. I don't know many Americans that watch Fox, but of those that I do know, they wouldn't watch Al Jazeera partly because it's not American (and therefore not trustworthy - with the exception of the BBC) but mainly because of the long form nature of the stories and focus on the news rather than building an emotionally charged narrative.
- gcb 16y agoexactly. just like the history channel wouldn't date to show long feature history instead of opinions and repetition of a non-fact theory. or the discovery showing something scientific, and not red neck soap opera while they chop bikes or trees.
- jacobmg 16y agoHere's why: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/ http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/ "Israel: The ugly truth", "A week of racism in Israel", "An education in inequality" Notice something out of proportion here? I know many people are keen to jump on the "Al Jazeera is great" bandwagon, but this level of intolerance is simply not appealing to Americans. Yes, there is anti-Islamic sentiment to a degree among a small portion of Americans, but it doesn't reach the levels on display here. This is a pattern of Al Jazeera's, which makes sense because news organizations do tend to slant their views to fit general trends among the populations of the countries they serve in. It makes a lot more sense that Al Jazeera is so well spoken of here just because it is a significant shift from what were used to in the feeble mainstream US media, rather than Al Jazeera actually putting a much deeper level of intellectual effort into their news. In reality it's just an illusion that it's something objectively better. As far as the sometimes thorough reports Al Jazeera puts out, people must realize that PBS and NPR are also American news organizations.
- rdtsc 16y ago> In reality it's just an illusion that it's something objectively better. Why do you say that? They do seem to have a better and broader news coverage. > "Israel: The ugly truth" ... Notice something out of proportion here? No. I think it is a well written article. Are you implying that anyone criticizing Israel should be automatically discarded on the basis of intolerance?
- jacobmg 16y ago> Are you implying that anyone criticizing Israel should be automatically discarded on the basis of intolerance? You don't seem to have listened. It wasn't about that one article, it was about their coverage of the issue, which is skewed in one obvious direction. And by the way, the article is nothing more than a bunch of anecdotes misrepresented as an accurate representation of the issue (the article itself even acknowledges this but ignores the implications.) When you take instances of violence by individuals and try to assert it's a general pattern, that is hate mongering, plain and simple. Quote from the article: 'Bayu says: "It's obvious that [things] can go to another level. This is what happened in Germany and many other places."' Look, it even comes with allusions to the comparison of Israel and the Nazis! >Why do you say that? They do seem to have a better and broader news coverage. "They do seem" as a claim on it's own has no persuasive power.
- rospaya 16y agoNote that CNN International is a class better than CNN that you watch in the US. They carry less opinion and showbiz and more news and business, although go in-depth only in rare shows. I used to switch between CNN and BBC in the 90s because of the great correspondent network they both had.
- sad_hacker 16y agoI'm not an American and I watch International version of CNN and I don't have any bad word against them.. I also watch Al Jazeera and BBC.
- maqr 16y agoI don't get CNN International or BBC News on Comcast, but I do think it's amusing that every time CNN needs real reporting (like when the Egypt story broke), they just cut to CNN International, where at least some level of real reporting is happening.
- ajays 16y agoEvery time Al Jazeera is brought up, people claim that it is anti-semitic, racist, anti-US, etc. But to that I say: so what? Do you think Americans are that stupid that they won't see antisemitism? Do you think we're little children who can't think for ourselves? As the old adage goes, "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". If Al Jazeera is indeed "the enemy", then all the more reason to make Al Jazeera widely available! Plus: when Al Jazeera started, the staff was almost entirely made up of BBC MiddleEast service people. So while they worked for BBC, they were unbiased; but the moment they started working for AJ, they became biased and completely untrustworthy!! IMHO, this opposition to Al Jazeera comes from the fact that they (AJ) don't tow the 'company line'. There's a carefully crafted story around which news is reported in the US ("US = good; Middle-Easterners = uneducated religious bigots; Israelis = poor victims who can't do no wrong; etc." ) ; unfortunately for AJ, they refuse to follow this line and hence piss off powerful people here. And before someone starts putting words in my mouth: I support Israeli people, and want them to live secure, peaceful, happy lives in Israel. In other words: I support the Israeli people, but not necessarily the actions of their government.
- mambodog 16y agoAs I mentioned below, I find it disingenuous that people often use the term 'anti-semitic' when they mean 'anti-Israel', as if any judgement on the actions of the state of Israel automatically implies hate of Jewish people.
- srean 16y agoNot only that. Jewish people are not the only Semites. Arabs are Semites too. The word anti-semitic has totally lost all of its literal meaning, much like the word hacker.
- tkahn6 16y agoAntisemitism has never meant racism directed at Semitic peoples in general. It has a very specific meaning. Not only that, but 'hacker' doesn't have a literal etymological meaning ('hacker' is derived from...?). This whole comment thread has me extremely disappointed with HN.
- noonespecial 16y agoInteresting. I have cox cable in DC, we get Al Jazeera, and it has been most useful. When the gulf oil spill was happening and we wanted to find out what was going on, I turned to CNN only to get 20 minutes on Katy Perry's freakin wardrobe controversy. Al Jazeera to the rescue.
- eli 16y agoI get it on Comcast in DC too.
- smhinsey 16y agoBy pure coincidence I have it on in the background right now in Arlington. I have FiOS but I assume Comcast has a similarly wide array of news channels. I chalked it up to the area. I've certainly never had it anywhere else I've lived, up and down the East Coast.
- defroost 16y agoTheir website is excellent. The recently acquired leaked documents, The Palestinian Papers, are fascinating reading. http://english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/2011/01/201112214310263628.html http://english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/2011/01/2011122... And I just saw an interview with PJ Crowley about Egypt. There is no US reporter that would ever ask such tough questions as the Aljazeera interviewer. No way. http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/01/27-1 http://www.commondreams.org/video/2011/01/27-1
- nkassis 16y ago7+ minutes is a long interview. That would be interesting to see, what is the average time guest are given in interviews on different news channel. It that piece it seemed as if Crowley had a message tailored for under 2-3 minutes but as it went longer it became way repetitive.
- mmaunder 16y agohttp://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/
- bigwally 16y agoI would like to watch the HD version? What is this RealPlayer thing? sounds like a virus.
- guscost 16y agoWhat is the point of this article? I've been able to watch Al Jazeera the past few days just fine, and I don't subscribe to any cable company. Why are these old media folks acting like television is still relevant?
- hugh3 16y agoI hate to be "Why is this on HN" guy, but why is this on HN?
- zackb 16y agoHey Guys, check out our startup Frequency. You can see quite a bit of al jazeera. http://www.frequency.com/aljazeera http://www.frequency.com/aljazeera
- kennywinker 16y agomore importantly, why can't people OUTSIDE the US watch hulu?
- linhir 16y agoThe article reminded me of this quotation from JFK: "We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
- mmaunder 16y agoThere is an opportunity for Al Jazeera in the USA because the signal to garbage ratio on our local networks has become intolerable. Most thinkers in this country get their news from the web, but live TV still has it's merits and there is a cavernous gap in the market for quality international news coverage right now. If Al Jazeera manage to capture some of that market, they could attract a more educated (and wealthier) demographic than CNN, CNBC and Fox. i.e. a more lucrative market for advertisers. Because they're streaming online, there really is very little standing in their way. If I was a major US network, I'd sit up and take notice. Al Jazeera reaches over 100 million homes: http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2007/10/2008525184830438575.html http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2007/10/200852518483043... It wouldn't take much to become the most popular international network in the country. Prime time viewers over the age of 2: Fox News: 2.1 million MSNBC: 950k CNN: 483k CNBC: 303k HLN: 462k Source: Nielsen, Jan 28, 2011. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/28/cable-news-ratings-for-thursday-january-27-2011-piers-tumbles/80643 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/28/cable-news-ratin...
- eli 16y agoThis seems like a question for Reddit
- keeptrying 16y agoThere's also an iPhone app for watching aljazeera now. It's a great way to watch it on iPad. Great feed.
- richardw 16y agoThat's very interesting - I assumed it was widely available. I'm in South Africa and have been watching it as much as BBC World News or CNN, more so over the last few months. What I do like about it is that there's a fair amount of actual 'world news' - stuff from countries that are hardly on my radar.
- alanh 16y ago“Comcast, Charter, Time Warner, Dish Network and DirecTV all passed.”
- smackfu 16y agoIsn't the real reason that the number of people who watch cable news is already a small minority of the cable subscribers, and they are already split three ways? Adding another cable news network isn't going to appeal to anyone new.
- garfio 16y agoLa libertad de información, para decirla y recibirla, tiene que ser ilímite. Los gobiernos, coomo el deEstados Unidos, que temen a la libretad de prensa, algo esconden. +Adelante, se;ores de Al/Jazeera!