AT&T sued for refusing to carry Al Jazeera network

[Karee 4,189]

Bloomberg News

Published: 20 August 2013 08:47 PM

Updated: 20 August 2013 08:47 PM

AT&T Inc. has been sued by Al Jazeera for refusing to carry the Qatar-based broadcaster’s new U.S. cable-news channel as part of its pay-television service.

The Dallas-based company is violating an agreement with Al Jazeera’s U.S. unit by refusing to broadcast the channel, which began airing in the U.S. today, according to a filing in Delaware Chancery Court.

The network, controlled by the Qatari royal family, paid $500 million for Al Gore’s money-losing Current TV in January and rebranded it.

AT&T’s U-verse pay-TV service said Monday that it wouldn’t carry Al Jazeera America because of a contract dispute. U-verse began in 2006 and has 5 million video customers in states, including Texas and California.

AT&T officials’ decision amounts to a “wrongful termination of an affiliation agreement,” Al Jazeera said in the filing, which accompanied a sealed complaint. Details on the case came from a cover sheet that contained a brief description of the network’s claims.

Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, told Bloomberg News on Tuesday that business disagreements prompted the decision to cancel the channel.

“We dropped the Current TV channel, and will not carry Al Jazeera America, on U-verse due to contract disputes,” Siegel said in an e-mailed statement. “We could not reach an agreement with the owner that we believed provided value for our customers and our business.”

Buying Current TV gave Al Jazeera America access to about 43 million homes nationwide, less than half of all pay-TV homes. The Qatari company also has deals with Comcast Corp., DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. for BeIN Sport, a group of channels it owns in France, the U.S. and Canada that have rights to European soccer leagues.

U-verse is the second TV provider to drop Al Jazeera’s channel since it acquired Current TV. Time Warner Cable, which has 12 million customers, dropped the channel from its lineup in January.

Officials of Time Warner, the second-largest U.S. cable company, are still negotiating with Al Jazeera America on a deal to carry the network, said spokeswoman Maureen Huff, who declined to comment on the AT&T lawsuit.

To boost its appeal, Al Jazeera has brought on CNN personalities such as Soledad O’Brien, Ali Velshi and Emmy Award-winner Michael Okwu. Programs include Real Money with Velshi and current affairs program Consider This with former ABC News correspondent Antonio Mora.

The channel’s domestic U.S. news will be complemented by reports from more than 400 international correspondents — many stationed in countries where few Western reporters venture.

The channel, which has hired about 700 staffers for a dozen U.S. bureaus including Nashville, New Orleans and Detroit, still must appeal to an American audience that remembers Al Jazeera as the forum for Osama bin Laden’s video messages after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ex-President George W. Bush considered the network sympathetic to terrorists, and the U.S. government was angered when Al Jazeera broadcast images of civilian casualties during a 2003 battle in the Iraqi City of Fallujah. That same year, the U.S. military mistakenly bombed Al Jazeera’s Baghdad office, killing some of its journalists.

Source:

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130820-att-sued-for-refusing-to-carry-al-jazeera-network.ece

[Karee 4,189]

I have Verizon FiOS and I switched to where Current TV is listed, and sure enough Al Jazeera is there. I'll have to see if the are actually a news channel, and not some propaganda channel to get Americans to join the jihad.

Stay tuned.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I have Verizon FiOS and I switched to where Current TV is listed, and sure enough Al Jazeera is there. I'll have to see if the are actually a news channel, and not some propaganda channel to get Americans to join the jihad.

Stay tuned.

I have been watching Property Virgins on HGTV tonight..They have had a commercial for ALJZ every break

[Karee 4,189]

I have been watching Property Virgins on HGTV tonight..They have had a commercial for ALJZ every break

I'm afraid to ask what a property virgin is.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I'm afraid to ask what a property virgin is.

first time home buyers.. Good show. They look at different homes with the agent, then pick one

[GandD 5,966]

first time home buyers.. Good show. They look at different homes with the agent, then pick one

We started watching tonight but we had already seen. BTW, you're just watching because its all Atlanta. Well lately it is. There were some in NY weren't there?

BTW Karee, FINALLY. A muslim-ish thread.

Edited August 21, 2013 by GandD

[Karee 4,189]

We started watching tonight but we had already seen. BTW, you're just watching because its all Atlanta. Well lately it is. There were some in NY weren't there?

BTW Karee, FINALLY. A muslim-ish thread.

I watched it for about 20 minutes. Surprisingly, I didn't feel the need to blow myself up in a shopping mall or hijack an airplane. I guess I need to watch it more to get the full effect.

They did have some good stories though.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

We started watching tonight but we had already seen. BTW, you're just watching because its all Atlanta. Well lately it is. There were some in NY weren't there?

BTW Karee, FINALLY. A muslim-ish thread.

I love those looking at property shows , House Hunters

I also love to shop at Bed Bath and beyond...I catch flak about that one from my buds.

[GandD 5,966]

I love those looking at property shows , House Hunters

I also love to shop at Bed Bath and beyond...I catch flak about that one from my buds.

Yeah I like them too. We're in the process of getting a bed bath an beyond. I'm def gonna check it out when open

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Interesting, but neither Mrs. T-B. nor I care for BB&Beyond. I've never found anything there that I really wanted to buy. Even with the 20% coupons that they periodically mail out, I've found that better products can be found more cheaply elsewhere. Mrs. T-B. and I concur, without discussion, that BB&B is a store to ignore.

Interesting, too, how this thread has deviated from its original topic!

Edited August 21, 2013 by TBoneTX

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Interesting, but neither Mrs. T-B. nor I care for BB&Beyond. I've never found anything there that I really wanted to buy. Even with the 20% coupons that they periodically mail out, I've found that better products can be found more cheaply elsewhere. Mrs. T-B. and I concur, without discussion, that BB&B is a store to ignore.

Interesting, too, how this thread has deviated from its original topic!

If more interesting is people acting surprised when threads drift..

They all do. Noone cares but Lincolns

mullet ad a mod or two

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Drift, man.

[G&D 51]

DRIFTING, DRIFTING....

Wife and I shop very often at BB&B. Much cheaper than Amazon...up to 25% with their discount coupons

Brick-and-mortar retail stores are becoming cheaper than Amazon!

At least one store, that is. Prices at Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) were on average 6.5% less than at Amazon for a basket of 30 items chosen by analysts at BB&T (BBT) for one of their periodic pricing studies comparing the retailers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/problem-for-bezos--mall-becoming-cheaper-than-amazon-160737573.html

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Interesting! Well, Mrs. T-B. & I shop around eclectically, including finding great stuff on Craigslist and in the resale shops. Garage sales are quite hit-or-miss, but there's potential there, too. I can't remember when we last paid full or nearly full retail for something.