Al Jazeera English Stays On in Burlington, Vt.

Municipal cable company Burlington Telecom reaches agreement to continue carrying network after controversy.

By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/23/2008 5:05:00 PM

Al Jazeera English -- the English language spinoff of the controversial international Middle Eastern news network -- will stay on in Burlington, Vt.

Municipal cable company Burlington Telecom reached a contractual agreement with the network to continue carrying Al Jazeera English.

The channel has been available on BT since January 2007. But controversy erupted earlier this summer when BT general manager Chris Burns announced that he was dropping the channel due to what he characterized as persistent viewer complaints. However, a series of public forums to discuss the matter produced a lopsided majority in favor of keeping the channel.

Burlington; Toledo, Ohio; and Washington, D.C., are the only markets where Al Jazeera English is available.