Current TV, the failed liberal network co-founded by Al Gore, is reportedly about to be sold to the Arab news channel Al Jazeera.
Back in October, reports surfaced that the ratings-challenged network was being put on the auction block .
At the time, Robert Laurie of CainTV observed the following about Current TV:
“Predictably, its early crusade against global warming failed to attract eyeballs, so it began to reinvent itself as a standard, left-wing, talking head channel — packed with a host of zany pundits that even MSNBC had rejected.”
Current TV actually tried to pattern itself after MSNBC by hiring high-strung former Countdown host Keith Olbermann to anchor a prime time show. But Olbermann was let go in March 2012 after feuding with management and now is going after the network in court .
Current TV reaches 60 million homes, but its actual viewership is minimal to nonexistent.
The New York Times provides further information on the potential sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera:
“If the deal is completed, Current will provide the pan-Arab news giant with something it has sought for years: a pathway into American living rooms. Current is available in about 60 million of the 100 million homes in the United States with cable or satellite service.
“Rather than simply use Current to distribute its English-language channel, called Al Jazeera English and based in Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera will create a new channel based in New York, according to people with knowledge of the deal negotiations. The channel may be called Al Jazeera America.”
The new owners reportedly plan to “dissolve” all existing programming, which would once again put disgraced former New York Democrat governor Eliot Spitzer , a.k.a. Client No. 9, out of work.
Would you watch Al Jazeera America if it is carried on your cable system?