Al-Jazeera Buys Current TV for $500 Million in bid to Expand in US
Acquisition of Al Gore's cable channel gives al-Jazeera chance to establish a presence where it has had only limited reach
US Critics Call it "The Terrorist Network"
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Al-Jazeera has acquired Current TV, which could extend the channel's reach beyond a few large US metropolitan areas. Photograph: Danny Moloshok/AP
The Guardian UK, & cjr news, 2 January 2013
Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network that has struggled to win space on US cable television, has acquired Current TV, the channel co-founded by former US vice-president Al Gore.
The deal is intended to give al-Jazeera greater penetration into the US market. It will close Current and replace it with a new network, al-Jazeera America. Gore will become a member of the new network's advisory board.
Current TV had struggled with viewers but is widely distributed on cable providers and reaches 60 million of the 100 million US households with cable or satellite service.
But al-Jazeera America
will face hurdles with US distributors and viewers, television industry analysts said.
One of its distributors,
Time Warner Cable, which accounted for about 12 million of those homes, announced late on Wednesday it was terminating its carriage deal with Current.
"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," it said in a statement.
Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt, who created the channel in 2005, confirmed the sale in a statement on Wednesday. The terms were undisclosed.
"Current Media was built based on a few key goals: to give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling," Gore and Hyatt said.
"Al-Jazeera has the same goals and, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us."
Al-Jazeera's reach in the US has struggled to move beyond the few large metropolitan areas, where some people can watch al-Jazeera English.
The network's managing director, Tony Burman, in 2010 blamed a
"very aggressive hostility" from the Bush administration for reluctance among cable and satellite companies to show the network.
Al-Jazeera has attracted respect for its ability to build a serious news product in a short time. But there may be a culture clash at the network. Dave Marash, a former ABC Nightline reporter who worked for al-Jazeera in Washington, said he left the network in 2008 in part because he sensed an anti-US bias there.
(Not entirely correct, he was asked to step down as an anchor)
Quote:
David Marash: It’s been a gradual process, and defining it all, is that with corporate encouragement, over the first two years of the
channel’s existence, I had made myself effectively the American face of the channel and vouched for its credibility and value. Over the last seventeen months there have been several changes at the channel which put things on the air that, frankly, I could not vouch for. If I had just been another employee I might have just dropped my head and let it all wash over, because it is the nature of our business that every place you work occasionally does things that embarrass you. But I felt an extra measure of responsibility as I am an American.
The proposal was made to me that I leave the anchor chair [he was informed of this in December and his last day as anchor was March 13], and become a sort of heavy correspondent, I knew that I would never be able to have the kind of editorial input or control that would put me in a position to honestly vouch for anything. Furthermore, when I was taken off that meant that there were zero American accents in any of the presenter roles at Al Jazeera. (Incorrect, there are many American journalists working for Al Jazeera across the world, some as presenters)
And it occurred to me that this was just one part of a series of decisions that diminished editorial input from the United States. It got to the point where I feel that in a globe where Al Jazeera sets a very, very high reporting standard, and a very, very high standard for both numerical and qualitative and authentic staffing, that the United States was becoming a serious exception to their role
|
Current, meanwhile, began as a groundbreaking effort to promote user-generated content, and settled into a more conventional format of political talk television with a liberal bent. But it has largely been outflanked by MSNBC in its effort to be a liberal alternative to the leading cable news network, Fox News Channel.
Gore worked on-air as an analyst during its recent election night coverage.
Current is expected to post $114m (£70m) in revenue in 2013, according to research firm SNL Kagan. The firm pegged the network's cash flow at nearly $24m a year.
END
It may be good for Americans that this has happened. Now they will have an opportunity to watch news about what is really happening in the US and the rest of the world. Al Jazeera also provides some terrific documentaries
I have been watching Al Jazeera for years and found it to be a very good international news source, it is even better than BBC World News. It does not just report news from the Middle East, Africa and Asia as claimed by its' US competitors. It already has bases and reporters from all over the world. It also does NOT have ads!!! 
LOL. But that might change when it expands more in the US, with their new Current TV.
I have a feeling Al Jazeera will face some more obstacles from its' US competitors..... It certainly does not appear as a Terrorist Network, as claimed....we will see...
Let the war begin.... this should be very
interesting... 
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