NEW YORK, July 1 (UPI) -- The Qatar-based cable channel al-Jazeera has begun talks with U.S. executives for a English-language version of the Middle East news channel.
Some U.S. cable and satellite operators told Daily Variety talks with al-Jazeera were in the very early stages for a English-language offshoot planned for 2006.
The new news channel would hire hundreds of journalists and producers over the next few months for bureaus in Washington, London and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"We have the advantage in the Middle East of having very good contacts," Lindsey Oliver, commercial director of al-Jazeera International, told Variety. "We're established as a news channel there; we have access to stories that other channels don't have the luxury of attaining in the region."
Al-Jazeera reaches 50 million subscribers in the Middle East, according to Oliver.
Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the ruler of Qatar, founded and financed al-Jazeera.
