Al-Jazeera America Buys Current TV
"Al [Gore] and I are thrilled and proud to announce that a few moments ago Current was acquired by Al Jazeera, the award winning international news organization," the memo from co-founder Joel Hyatt reads.
"When considering the several suitors who were interested in acquiring Current, it became clear to us that Al Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current: to give voice to those whose voices are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the important stories that no one else is telling."
Founded in 2004 and co-owned by the former Vice President, Current TV has been in discussions with media companies to discuss a possible sale since October, according to Hyatt.
No numbers are known yet, but Current TV is set to be replaced by a brand new channel, called Al-Jazeera America. "Al Jazeera is planning to invest significantly in building a network focused on international news for the American audience," Hyatt's memo reads. "Al and I will both serve on the Advisory Board of Al Jazeera America, and we look forward to helping build an important news network."
However, there's some bad news for the new owners: Time Warner cable didn't consent to the deal. As a result, Current and the new channel will not be available for Time Warner subscribers, which represented about 9 million potential viewers. (We've reached out to our own contacts at San Francisco-based Current, and will let you know what we hear back.)
Current was carried by a large number of cable and satellite distributors, such as Time Warner and Comcast; so much so that it reaches roughly 60% of the 100 million U.S. households with TVs. But the channel has struggled to find its footing and has been plagued by low viewership figures since its inception.
Gore anchored big events, such as 2012 election night, and fellow Democratic luminaries Eliot Spitzer and Jennifer Granholm had their own shows. Spitzer admitted to Mediabistro that "nobody is watching" his show, and that the channel should be sold.
Current TV has occasionally attempted to boost its appeal by adding social media to the mix, displaying tweets with given hashtags on a ticker. Yet viewership has stalled in the range of 40,000 a night, according to numbers from Nielsen.
Despite briefly hiring the controversial Keith Olbermann, the channel has struggled to turn any of its ponderous talking heads shows into appointment TV. During election night 2012, reporters in the Current press room were quick to change the channels on their screens to CNN and Fox News.
Al-Jazeera, by contrast, had tremendous success with its Al-Jazeera English channel. Featuring such luminaries as Sir David Frost, the channel reached 80 million homes around Europe at launch. It is now available in 130 million homes in 100 countries.
Would you watch Al-Jazeera America? Or you think it can compete with CNN, Fox News or MSNBC?
