AJE Surges in the US

Reuters is reporting that AJE's online viewership surged during the conflict in Gaza, which is no surprise. But the US audience grew by 600%......begging the question of just how long American cable providers can continue to argue that they aren't carrying AJE because it is not "commercially viable."

Livestation said Al-Jazeera English footage viewed on its site jumped to 17 million minutes worldwide over a two week period during the Gaza conflict, up from 3 million minutes in a similar time period before the conflict began.

The service did not break down those numbers by specific country. But it said that over one full week of the Gaza conflict, the number of U.S. viewers to Al-Jazeera English on Livestation surged by six times the usual level.

The boost in viewership was also reflected on YouTube where viewers can watch individual television reports. Over the past month during the Gaza crisis, Al-Jazeera was the most viewed English-language traditional news channel on YouTube's "News and Politics" category.