Absolute first impression: wow. The channel looks amazing - stunning studios around the world, great presenters who I already know, and nice, clean graphics that tell the story. From what I've seen, the content looks pretty good too - interesting stories and interviews, live reports from places like Zimbabwe, and generally exactly the sort of global coverage they promised.

I get the impression, though, that the channel wants to break news more than it wants to cover breaking news. The fact that, for the time being, live news programmes will only be on between noon and midnight would seem to support that. So, while it all looks very promising, I get the impression that it's the sort of channel I'll be watching to broaden my horizons, rather than to get a full briefing on the latest news.

But while the TV side of things is great, AJE's web presence is less than impressive. Their website looks nice, and makes good use of images - but in reality provides nothing more than news stories (many of them from agencies). No interactive features, no analysis, no blogs - not even any video. Compared with what CNN or BBC News has to offer, AJE's site is sadly lacking.

I was expecting to be able to watch a decent quality stream of the channel online too - but all the site offers for free is a pitiful 56k feed on a 'free trial' basis. If you want better than that, you have to subscribe - which, given AJE's deep pockets, and the fact that channels like BFM in France offer a decent stream for nothing, seems pretty miserly.

Thanks to the website, I didn't get to see the launch live - but here's the first few minutes of the channel courtesy of someone who did...

Labels: Al Jazeera, TV