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 1, Copa del Rey, South American World Cup Qualifier and English Championship matches, in addition to Barca TV. In October 2009 Al Jazeera acquired six sports channels of the ART. On 26 November 2009 Al Jazeera English received approval from the CRTC, which enables Al Jazeera English to broadcast via satellite in Canada. The original Al Jazeera channel is available worldwide through various satellite and cable systems. For availability info of the Al Jazeera network's other TV channels, see their respective articles. Segments of Al Jazeera English are uploaded to YouTube. Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Al Jazeera