Obamarama

As domestic BBC viewers marvel at the four-part epic documentary 'Inside Obama's White House' - produced by the peerless Norma Percy and indie Brook Lapping for BBC Two - the first showing in America will not be found on either BBC World News or BBC America, but the soon to be defunct Al Jazeera America.

Last year, before its closure was announced, AJAM averaged a US daytime audience between 14-18,000. Those paying close attention to the final credits will note the series is indeed a co-production with ARTE France, SBS-TV Australia, NHK, SVT, VPRO, RTS, NRK, Radio Canada and many others. Al Jazeera is not mentioned.

One assumes this arrangement pre-dates both the decision to close AJAM and the price of oil dropping like a stone. Still, given the subject, one might have hoped this series deserved a wider audience in the U.S....