According to a release from Al Jazeera, the first meeting is scheduled for today in New York with Comcast. The Qatar-based broadcaster said that the meetings are the result of a "surge of interest" in Al Jazeera English following its coverage of the Egypt protests.
The Al Jazeera English website claims to have seen a 2500 per cent increase in visitors following its widely praised coverage of the protests in Egypt, despite the network having its Cairo bureau shut down and broadcasting licence revoked.
"We’re very grateful for all the support and appreciation we’ve been receiving," Anstey said in a release.
"Clearly the demand is there for Al Jazeera and people want to see us on their screens."
The meetings between Al Jazeera English and US cable companies follow a campaign by the broadcaster – and calls from figures such as media professor Jeff Jarvis – for US cable providers to support the service. Jarvis argued in a blog post that AJE's online-only stream "is not going to have the same impact – political and education impact – that putting AJE on the cable dial would have".
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