DOHA, Qatar: Launched at twelve noon GMT Wednesday, al-Jazeera International - the broadcaster's new English-language news channel - underwent an eleventh-hour rebranding and is now known as al-Jazeera English.

The last minute change is attributed to one of the Qatar-based channel's major investors, reportedly of the opinion that as al-Jazeera already has an international voice and audience, it should avoid confusion by reflecting the language in which it is transmitted.

The newcomer's on-air sign first flashed in Doha, moving across the globe to to Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington as the day progressed.

Broadcast worldwide, al-Jazeera English is set to exceed its original launch target of 40 million cable and satellite homes. It is distributed across all continents, and is also available via broadband IPTV, ADSL, terrestrial and cellphone platforms.

In the US it will be available via Globecast; in the UK on BSkyB channel 514; in Germany Kabel Deutschland and Kabel BW; and in France via Canal Sat and TPS.

Elsewhere, major distributors of the channel include:

HK Broadband (Hong Kong)
YES TV (Israel)
Sky Italia (Italy)
Astro (Malaysia)
Canal Digitaal (The Netherlands)
ORCUS (New Zealand)
Canal Digital (Nordic Region)

Data sourced from MediaGuardian.co.uk and al-Jazeera website; additional content by WARC staff