Three New Channels With Something On

Cable channels are more numerous than they used to be, which makes it harder for a new one to stand out from the crowd.  So if you can break away long enough from "Duck Dynasty", "Breaking Bad" and preseason football (and if your provider offers it), you might want to seek these new channels out.

Al Jazeera America is the new domestic face of the worldwide Qatar-owned news channel, praised around the world for its commitment to quality journalism.  In America, however, Al Jazeera is best known for being an anti-Israeli channel that gave Osama bin Laden and his ilk a forum, which is why half of the cable providers have so far refused to carry AJA.  Image problems aside, what we're seeing so far of AJA is a major step up from its predecessor Current TV, with its news coverage resembling "PBS News Hour" with a bigger budget.  They strive to look homegrown with the presence of several minor-league former network correspondents filling out the roster.  AJA is promising no sensationalism, no celebrities and no shouting matches--you know, the kind of stuff that dominates the other news channels.  Let's see how long that lasts.

Fox Sports One has been hyped to the heavens by Rupert Murdoch's other platforms for months, and now it's finally here, replacing the Speed channel.  As America's new alternative to behemoth ESPN, FS1 has been promising its viewers coverage of Major League Baseball, NASCAR and college sports.  That's later on.  Right now it's mostly coverage of UFC matches and soccer, followed by talk shows starring blonde women and analysts who used to be athletes yukking it up.  Oh, and did we forget Regis Philbin?  Meanwhile, ESPN has responded by bringing back its prodigal sons, Jason Whitlock (who they poached from Fox) and Keith Olbermann (we assume he'll stick to sports).

NBC Sports Network has actually been around for over a year, having previously been known as Versus.  In recent developments, the channel is being renamed NBCSN, which makes sense when you consider that "NBC Sports Network" is a mouthful.  They're also making hay out of the fact that they now have the exclusive American TV rights to English Premier League soccer, as well as taking over the second half of the NASCAR schedule from ESPN in 2015.  That's added to NBCSN's current portfolio of NHL hockey, MLS soccer and the Canadian Football League--the kind FS1 currently lacks.

Both FS1 and NBCSN (as well as CBS Sports Network) face an uphill climb against ESPN, which has had a thirty-year head start on the consciences of the American sports public.  They can be found on several channels (with the occasional use of ABC), a magazine and a radio network to spread its brand.  And having the National Football League doesn't hurt either.

Fox News also faced an uphill climb before it supplanted CNN as the dominant cable news channel within a 10-year period.  So for the new cable channels, there's hope that enough viewers will come their way if they get tired of the same old stuff.  If not, there's still "Duck Dynasty".