Al Jazeera Balkans is “Muslim" television". He concludes by saying that Al Jazeera's Arabic service played a key role in the Arab Spring and wonders "what sort of influence Qatar may want, or gain, in the Balkans". Writing in his blog on "The Weekly Standard" web site, Stephen Schwartz sees Al Jazeera Balkans (AJB) as "the revival of a “Yugoslav" television network", bringing up AJB news director Goran Milić's past affiliation with "Yutel", "a network that attempted to rescue Yugoslavia during its collapse, from 1990 to 1992". Schwartz concludes that "in entering the Balkans, Al Jazeera has opted for an attempted revival of
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