with al jazeera english . al jazeera america launched august 20 2013 2013 08 20 closed april 12 2016 2016 04 12 network al jazeera owned by al jazeera media network slogan there s more to it your global news leader change the way you look at news where the news is the star country united states language english broadcast area united states headquarters manhattan center new york city new york replaced current tv sister channel s al jazeera english aj bein sport al jazeera america ajam was an american basic cable and satellite news television channel owned by the al jazeera media network doha . the channel was launched on august 20 2013 to compete with cnn hln msnbc fox news channel and in certain markets rt america . the channel was al jazeera s second entry into the u.s. television market after the launch of bein sport in 2012 . the channel which had persistently low ratings announced in january 2016 that it would close on april 12 2016 1 citing the economic landscape . 2 the channel was headquartered and run from studios on the first floor of the manhattan center in new york city . 3 4 5 it also had a total of 12 bureaus located in places such as washington d.c. at the channel s d.c. studios at the newseum and al jazeera s d.c. hub chicago detroit nashville los angeles seattle new orleans dallas denver miami and san francisco former headquarters of current tv and current headquarters of online channel aj . 6 7 the channel was the sister channel of al jazeera s international english language news channel al jazeera english . although operated and managed completely separately with america s management based in the united states the two shared united states studios and bureaus such as the d.c. hub and al jazeera america ran some of al jazeera english s programming and many of its live newscasts alongside its own . contents 1 history 1.1 creation 1.2 closure 2 content and programs 3 investigative reporting 4 news staff 4.1 other people 5 former programming 5.1 produced by al jazeera america 5.2 produced provided by al jazeera english 5.3 produced jointly 5.4 imported 6 notable staff 6.1 management 6.2 on air staff 6.2.1 anchors and hosts 6.3 correspondents 7 awards 8 incidents 9 controversies 9.1 reactions to the dark side secrets of the sports dopers documentary 10 references 11 external links history edit creation edit the creation of al jazeera america was announced on january 2 2013 along with the announcement that the network had purchased the user generated content channel turned progressive oriented cable television channel current tv which had long been struggling in the ratings and after two format changes had announced in october 2012 that it was considering a sale of the channel . 8 it was reported that al jazeera planned on shutting down current tv keeping its production staff and possibly some programs and using the company s distribution network to broadcast al jazeera america . 9 current tv by coincidence was formerly newsworld international an international news channel similar to al jazeera america run by the canadian broadcasting corporation . on july 22 2013 al jazeera america named former abc news vice president kate o brian as president of the network and ehab al shihabi as interim ceo in charge of business affairs . in addition former cnn veteran david doss was named vice president of news programming and former cbs news executive marcy mcginnis was named vice president of news gathering . former msnbc executive shannon high bassalik was named senior vice president of documentaries and programs . 10 al jazeera said it received more than 21 000 job applications for 400 positions at its u.s. network . approximately 200 current tv employees including some 50 in editorial were absorbed by the new operation . 4 it planned to have a total of 800 employees at the channel s launch . al jazeera america also announced that the channel would employ well known veteran journalists anchors and producers . 11 on july 3 2013 ali velshi confirmed that al jazeera america s launch would take place on august 20 2013 . 12 the launch took place at 3 00 p.m. eastern time on that date with an hour long preview special entitled this is al jazeera . news coverage began immediately afterward at 4 00 p.m. al jazeera america s website launched on august 8 2013 . 13 closure edit on january 14 2016 the al jazeera media network announced that it would shut down al jazeera america s cable tv and digital operations on april 30 2016 citing plummeting oil prices and the highly competitive nature of the american media market . 14 it was also reported that this closure would lead to the loss of about 700 jobs . 15 during its two year history al jazeera america won several media awards including the peabody emmy and shorty awards and citations from groups such as the national association of black journalists and native american journalism . however the network experienced low viewership ratings averaging between 20 000 and 40 000 viewers on a typical day . 16 17 following the network s shutdown al jazeera media network is planning on expanding its digital presence in the united states though ventures such as united states based aj . 18 19 on february 26 2016 the al jazeera america website ceased operations . 20 on february 11 2016 writing in the television trade magazine broadcasting and cable industry pundit joe mohen proposed a provocative thesis that the business failure of al jazeera america was only because it chose the wrong distribution channel namely cable . mohen argued that by the time of al jazeera america s launch the demographics of cable news viewers in the united states market were people in their 60s whereas the natural audience of al jazeera was people under 34 years old ; had the parent company instead launched the linear news channel as a netflix type app much like how rt america has done with full digital distribution then it could have grown its audience using search and sold its commercials programmatically . 21 on march 27 2016 cnn correspondents brian stelter and tom kludt wrote an in depth analysis of al jazeera america s closure . among the many reasons for the closure cited in the article were low viewership and falling oil prices . but the article also pointed to more deeper rooted problems . these problems included poor decision making and management on behalf of al jazeera higher ups specifically ceo ehab al shihabi . the article stated that they lacked a business plan and made faulty branding choices such as refusing to change the name al jazeera . stelter and kludt also suggested that political issues could have played into the channel s demise . during the bush administration the president and other officials openly criticized al jazeera for airing messages from al qaeda figures . 22 this could have been part of the reason why al jazeera america struggled to get major cable providers like comcast and directv to carry the channel . 23 on april 12 2016 al jazeera america signed off for the final time with its last program ever to air on the network a live three hour retrospective titled your stories . antonio mora & richelle carey the first two anchors to appear on air when it launched august 20 2013 were the last two anchors to appear as the network signed off for the final time at 8 59 p.m. et . after sign off the channel space that al jazeera america had been on which had been in use since 1994 as newsworld international folded . during the time that al jazeera america was in existence al jazeera english and aje programs that were shown on al jazeera america were geoblocked in the united states due to agreements with the carriers of al jazeera america . programs from al jazeera english not shown on al jazeera america such as empire and upfront were some of the few unblocked during the time and therefore able to be seen on al jazeera english s website . in september 2016 al jazeera english s online live stream and the programs which were blocked in the united states during al jazeera america s existence were officially un geoblocked in the united states making them viewable for the first time since 2013 . content and programs edit it was announced that 60 % of the channel s programming would be produced in america while an additional 40 % would come from al jazeera english . that was later changed to almost all of the channel s program content being sourced from the united states . in an interview with the new york times head of international operations ehab al shihabi said al jazeera america s content on most days will primarily be domestic news . but al jazeera s seventy bureaus around the world will mean that we will have an unparalleled ability to report on important global stories that americans are not seeing elsewhere . we will do that when it is warranted . 24 al shihabi said that the channel would feature less political discussion and celebrity news and that news gathering would take priority over maximizing profits the network was to air only six minutes of commercials per hour a rate far less than competing networks . 25 26 its three hour morning program was to have a different format focusing on hard news and not a group of anchors chatting on a couch . 27 al jazeera america aired live programming at all hours including half hour news bulletins . 4 three al jazeera english programs that were based in washington the stream inside story and fault lines were included on the launch schedule as well as the frost interview and listening post . the flagship nighttime show was called america tonight . it was a weeknight news magazine that presented the day s news in al jazeera s long form style with stories that are not covered elsewhere . 28 al jazeera america s original senior executive producer for news and special projects was bob wheelock a former senior producer for abc and nbc news . wheelock left the network shortly after the launch to head up a political campaign in delaware . cnn chief business correspondent and the anchor of your money ali velshi was the first major name to join al jazeera america . he hosted a daily half hour show originally called real money with ali velshi later called ali velshi on target . 29 the show was originally going to be once a week until the end of 2013 when it was re launched as a daily show . 30 newseum home of al jazeera america s former premiere d.c. studio and america tonight the channel also hired kim bondy a former executive producer with cnn to produce its flagship news program america tonight a newsmagazine program that is hosted by original cnn international anchor and former cbs news correspondent joie chen produced from al jazeera america s newseum studio in washington d.c. and featuring correspondents adam may lori jane gliha former cbs abc and cbc news correspondent sheila macvicar and former current tv correspondent christof putzel . 31 32 33 the program presented in depth segments each night on the economy government education healthcare and the environment and include breaking news stories . the program also featured work by the al jazeera america investigative unit and covers stories in depth from across america revealing new insights on the news of the day and breaking stories with its own original reporting . america tonight also incorporates social media interaction on screen and off to reflect the views of its american audience . on july 1