Al Jazeera 500 million Qatari riyals (US$137 million) from the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa. By securing its funding through loans or grants rather than direct government subsidies, the channel seeks to maintain independent editorial policy. The channel began broadcasting in late 1996, with many staff joining from the BBC World Service's Saudi-co-owned Arabic-language TV station, which had shut down on 1 April 1996 after two years of operation because of censorship demands by the Saudi Arabian government. The Al Jazeera logo is a decorative representation of the network's name written using Arabic calligraphy. It was selected by the station's
Al Jazeera America at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on that date, with an hour-long preview special entitled "This is Al Jazeera". News coverage began immediately afterward at 4:00 p.m. Al Jazeera America's website launched on August 8, 2013. On January 14, 2016, the Al Jazeera Media Network announced that it would shut down Al Jazeera America's cable TV and digital operations on April 30, 2016, citing plummeting oil prices and the highly competitive nature of the American media market. It was also reported that this closure would lead to the loss of about 700 jobs. During its two-year history, Al Jazeera America won