is about the corporation . for the television network and original channel see al jazeera . al jazeera media network type private institution of public utility industry mass media founded 1996 ; 20 years ago 1996 founders hamad bin khalifa al thani headquarters doha qatar key people chairman hamad bin thamer al thani director general dr. mostefa souag products cable network programming direct broadcast satellite television new media multicultural education number of employees 100 000 subsidiaries news al jazeera arabic al jazeera english al jazeera mubasher al amma al jazeera balkans balkans al jazeera t rk turkey sports bein media group educational al jazeera documentary channel jeemtv other aj aljazeera.com al jazeera mobile al jazeera new media al jazeera center for studies al jazeera international documentary film festival miramax films website al jazeera media network blog al jazeera media network ajmn is a middle eastern multinational multimedia conglomerate and is the parent company of al jazeera and its related networks . the chairman is sheikh hamad bin thamer al thani . 1 2 the acting director general is dr. mostefa souag . the network s news operation currently has a total of 70 bureaux around the world that are shared between the network s channels and operations the second largest amount of bureaux of any media company in the world after the bbc . contents 1 history 1.1 launch 1.2 expansion 1.3 al jazeera english 1.4 al jazeera balkans 1.5 al jazeera america 1.6 al jazeera sports 1.7 other channels 1.8 restructuring 2 subsidiaries 2.1 television 3 other operations 3.1 mobile 3.2 online 3.2.1 aj 3.3 education 4 al jazeera international documentary film festival 5 lawsuits against at & t 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit launch edit the original al jazeera satellite channel then called jsc or jazeera satellite channel was launched on 1 november 1996 following the closure of the first bbc arabic language television station then a joint venture with orbit communications company owned by saudi king fahd s cousin khalid bin faisal al saud . the bbc channel had closed after a year and a half when the saudi government attempted to thwart a documentary pertaining to executions under sharia law . 3 the emir of qatar sheikh hamad bin khalifa provided a loan of qar 500 million 137 million to sustain al jazeera through its first five years as hugh miles detailed in his book al jazeera the inside story of the arab news channel that is challenging the west . al jazeera s first day on the air was 1 november 1996 . it offered 6 hours of programming per day ; this would increase to 12 hours by the end of 1997 . it was broadcast to the immediate neighborhood as a terrestrial signal and on cable as well as through satellites which was also free to users in the arab world . 1 january 1999 was al jazeera s first day of 24 hour broadcasting . 4 employment had more than tripled in one year to 500 employees and the agency had bureaux at a dozen sites as far as eu and russia . its annual budget was estimated at about 25 million at the time . expansion edit al jazeera english edit main article al jazeera english al jazeera english newsroom in 2003 al jazeera hired its first english language journalists among whom was afshin rattansi 5 from the bbc s today programme . in march 2003 it launched an english language website . 6 see below on 4 july 2005 al jazeera officially announced plans to launch a new english language satellite service to be called al jazeera international . 7 the new channel started at 12h gmt on 15 november 2006 under the name al jazeera english and has broadcast centers in doha next to the original al jazeera headquarters and broadcast center london kuala lumpur and washington d.c. the channel is a 24 hour 7 days a week news channel with 12 hours broadcast from doha and four hours each from london kuala lumpur and washington d.c. among its staff were journalists hired from abc s nightline and other top news outfits . josh rushing 8 a former media handler for centcom during the iraq war agreed to provide commentary ; david frost was also on board . 9 10 in an interesting technical feat the broadcast of the new operation was handed off between bases in doha london washington d.c. and kuala lumpur on a daily cycle . the new english language venture faced considerable regulatory and commercial hurdles in the north america market for its perceived sympathy with extremist causes . 11 12 13 at the same time others felt al jazeera s competitive advantage lay in programming in the arabic language . there were hundreds of millions of potential viewers among the non arabic language speaking muslims in europe and asia however and many others who might be interested in seeing news from the middle east read by local voices . if the venture panned out it would extend the influence of al jazeera and tiny qatar beyond even what had been achieved in the station s first decade . in an interesting twist of fate the bbc world service was preparing to launch its own arabic language station in 2007 . al jazeera balkans edit wadah khanfar former director general of al jazeera media network in 2011 al jazeera media network created al jazeera balkans a version of al jazeera in the bosnian croatian serbian language s stationed in sarajevo bosnia and herzegovina catering to and broadcasting around the balkans . in 2013 they announced the creation of al jazeera t rk a version of al jazeera that will be in the turkish language s stationed in istanbul catering to and broadcasting around turkey . on january 22 2014 al jazeera turk s website launched with news content . the move made al jazeera turk the first 24 hour news operation to go digital before broadcast . 14 al jazeera s london studio al jazeera america edit main article al jazeera america al jazeera america was an american version of al jazeera english . the channel launched on 20 august 2013 exclusively on cable and satellite systems in the united states . on 2 january 2013 al jazeera media network announced that it purchased current tv in the united states and would be launching an american news channel . originally 60 % of the channel s programming would be produced in america while 40 % would be from al jazeera english that has since changed to almost all the content being u.s. originated . in a news release al jazeera director general ahmed bin jassim al thani said by acquiring current tv al jazeera will significantly expand our existing distribution footprint in the u.s. as well as increase our newsgathering and reporting efforts in america ... we look forward to working together with our new cable and satellite partners to serve our new audiences across the u.s. the channel provided mainly domestic but also international news for an american audience . though current tv had large distribution throughout the united states on cable and satellite tv it averaged only 28 000 viewers at any time . 15 the acquisition of current tv by al jazeera allowed time warner cable to drop the network due to its low ratings but released a statement saying that they would consider carrying the channel after they evaluated whether it made sense for their customers . 16 17 18 19 20 21 the channel was later added to time warner and bright house networks lineups after a new carriage deal was agreed upon . on january 13 2016 al jazeera america ceo al anstey announced that the network would cease operations on april 12 2016 citing the economic landscape . 22 al jazeera sports edit main article al jazeera sports in 2004 al jazeera expanded into the world of sports with the establishment of al jazeera sports now known as bein sports and the building of 8 arabic language specialty sports channels . on 1 january 2014 al jazeera sports was renamed bein sports after its acquisition of bein media group the channels were legally spun off and to have consistency with all the network s sports properties . according to kate o brian president of al jazeera america bein sports revenue helps fund the network . other channels edit al jazeera media network also operates al jazeera documentary channel an arabic language documentary channel al jazeera mubasher a live politics and public interest channel similar to c span houses of the oireachtas channel or bbc parliament which broadcasts conferences in real time without editing or commentary the first channel of its kind in the middle east and al jazeera turk a mainly online channel at the moment . restructuring edit al jazeera s former knightsbridge london control room al jazeera restructured its operations to form a network that contains all their different channels . wadah khanfar then the managing director of the arabic channel was appointed as the director general of the al jazeera network . he also acted as the managing director of the arabic channel . khanfar resigned on 20 september 2011 proclaiming that he had achieved his original goals and that eight years was enough time for any leader of an organization in an interview aired on aljazeera english . on 26 november 2009 al jazeera english received approval from the crtc which enables al jazeera english to broadcast via satellite in canada . 23 in 2011 in accordance with the renaming of the corporation ajmn was legally re designated from a public institution to a private institution of public utility ; however it was unknown how this would affect editorial management and funding . 24 25 the network is also funded though its television contracts and revenue from its sports division . subsidiaries edit television edit al jazeera media network operates a number of specialty channels besides its original flagship news channel . al jazeera network s tv channels include d 26 channel description launched in website al jazeera the original international arabic language 24h news channel 1 november 1996 aljazeera.net channel al jazeera english a global english language 24h news channel 2006 aljazeera.com al jazeera balkans a version of al jazeera in the bosnian croatian serbian language s stationed in sarajevo bosnia and herzegovina catering to and broadcasting around the balkans 2011 balkans.aljazeera.com al jazeera mubasher al amma a.k.a. al jazeera live general a live politics and public interest channel similar to c span houses of the oireachtas channel or bbc parliament which broadcasts conferences in real time without editing or commentary 2005 mubasher.aljazeera.net al jazeera documentary channel an arabic language documentary channel 2007 doc.aljazeera.net jeemtv a children s interest channel 2013 jeemtv.net baraem a pre school arabic tv channel 2009 baraem.tv pending channels description and region year website al jazeera t rk a version of al jazeera that will be in the turkish language s stationed in istanbul catering to and broadcasting around turkey . currently online only . 2014 under construction aljazeera.com.tr al jazeera kiswahili kiswahili version of al jazeera to be based in east africa . under construction aljazeerakiswahili.com al jazeera indonesia 2015 other entities description year website aj is an online news channel that promotes the different thinking of other cultures and understanding of news in a first person perspective . the channel is hosted on youtube and is based in san francisco california . 2014 ajplus.net al jazeera training center an arabic language graphics and media training center 2004 training.aljazeera.net al jazeera center for studies a think tank that conducts research and in depth analysis of current affairs at both regional and global levels 2006 studies.aljazeera.net discontinued channels description and region time period n a al jazeera america intended to compete with other news channels including cnn hln msnbc fox and rt in the