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 English allowing unlimited viewing may be purchased from Jump TV, RealPlayer, and VDC. Al Jazeera English is also available on YouTube. Headlines from Al Jazeera English are available on Twitter. Al Jazeera English's website also contains news reports and full episodes of their programs that can be viewed for free on their website. The videos are hosted by YouTube, where viewers can also go to find the videos. Al Jazeera English is available in the UK and Ireland on Freeview channel 108 (HD), Sky channel 514, Freesat channel 203 and Virgin Media channel 622. The channel initially began test streaming Al