Al-Jazeera pays $500M for Current TV

Friday, January 4, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With its $500 million purchase of left-leaning Current TV, the Pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera will soon be seen in tens of millions of U.S. homes. It’s a steep price, but the acquisition helps the network in its aim to quickly spread its message to more Americans.

The purchase will create a news channel called Al-Jazeera America, coming to American homes 90 days from now with a distinctly non-American view of the world. The network claims many people in the U.S. have sought its programming online, and that it aims to present an “unbiased” view, “representing as many different viewpoints as possible.”

The deal already had its first casualty.

The nation’s second-largest TV operator, Time Warner Cable Inc., dropped Current after the deal was confirmed Wednesday, saying the network didn’t have enough viewers.

The change in ownership gives Time Warner Cable the right to drop the channel, but spokeswoman Maureen Huff said the company is keeping “an open mind” about airing the new Al-Jazeera America.

“As a service develops, we will evaluate whether it makes sense for our customers to launch the network,” Huff said.

Even after it is rebranded later this year, the channel will continue to be carried by DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast Corp., AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity and wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

That boosts the reach of Al-Jazeera to about 50 million homes, up from the 4.7 million that could watch Al-Jazeera English, which is available to some subscribers in New York and Washington. That’s down slightly from the 60 million homes Current TV was in.

It also amounts to a hefty payday for former Vice President Al Gore and cofounder Joel Hyatt, each of whom had 20 percent stakes in Current. Comcast had less than a 10 percent stake. Another major investor in Current TV was supermarket magnate and entertainment industry investor Ron Burkle, according to information service Capital IQ.

Gore confirmed the sale Wednesday, saying in a statement that Al-Jazeera shares Current TV’s mission “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.”

Al-Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, plans to gradually transform Current into Al-Jazeera America by adding five to 10 new U.S. bureaus beyond the five it has now and hiring more journalists. More than half of the content will be U.S. news and the network will have its headquarters in New York, spokesman Stan Collender said.

Al-Jazeera has garnered respect for its ability to build a serious news product in a short time. In a statement announcing the deal, it touted numerous U.S. journalism awards it received in 2012, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award Grand Prize and the Scripps Howard Award for Television/Cable In-Depth Reporting.

But there may be a culture clash at the network. Dave Marash, a former “Nightline” reporter who worked for Al-Jazeera in Washington, said he left the network in 2008 in part because he sensed an anti-American bias there.

Current, meanwhile, began as a groundbreaking effort to promote user-generated content. But it has settled into a more conventional format of political talk television with a liberal bent. Gore worked on-air as an analyst during its recent election night coverage.

Among its leading personalities are former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Cenk Uygur, a former political commentator on MSNBC who hosts the show called “The Young Turks.” Current signed Keith Olbermann to be its top host in 2011 but his tenure lasted less than a year before it ended in bad blood on both sides.

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GrumpyGus 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Of course good old Albert pushed the sale through prior to Jan. 1, 2013 so he didn't have to pay the higher capital gains rate. See, tax increases are meant only for millionaire (i.e. $400,000) rubes, not good leftist mental giants like Albert.

asb 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Only a fool wouldn't take advantage of existing tax law, regardless of their stand on needed changes.

GrumpyGus 4 months, 2 weeks ago

I thought hypocrisy was the only sin you acknowledged lefty...again, there is no such thing as hypocrisy among leftists only those on the right. The left is morally bankrupt, and because of it, the nation soon will be. By the way, new job numbers: women and african americans hardest hit. Congrats on the political victory, and national collapse...

spelchek 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Bingo.

Sequoia 4 months, 2 weeks ago

I'm not sure what is hypocritical about following the law as it is, but also advocting for change of that law. Plus, I'm not sure Al Gore ever made a big thing about taxes.

If spel and Gus were on top of things, they might point out that the money Al Jazeera used to buy Current TV primarily comes from the government of Qatar, a city where oil wealth drives the largest per-capita carbon footprint in the world. We all know what Al Gore has to say about the effects of oil production on climate change. Looks like Al is just as happy to get rich off the murder-for-hire of our planet as the rest of us.

If you guys weren't so knee-jerk and reflexive, you might not miss the mark so often. Of course, pointing to the environmental hypocracy, rather than the tax hypocracy, might put you in the uncomfortable position of having to having to acknowledge reality. Let go of the knee-jerk arguments of the conservative "movement," see the world as it is, and you'll find enough hypocricy on the left to max out the comments section every time.

GrumpyGus 4 months, 2 weeks ago

True about the fossil fuel hypocrisy...but the fact of the matter is, Albert is a rich leftists doing what he can to avoid taxes and has publicly chided the rich for not paying their fair share. Haven't seen CBSNBSACSCNNBSMSNBS open their newscasts with this one yet. Also love the low information voters now griping about their smaller pay checks on Twitter. You voted for it nitwits, own it.

asb 4 months, 2 weeks ago

He is a rich man avoiding taxes, as do we all. He chides the GOP and particularly the teaparty for not taxing the rich more, not the rich themselves. He'll certainly miss the tax money when his rates go up, but he supports tax reform. For all we know he may be a tax cheat, and when you find that out you be sure and let us know. Until then he seems neither hypocrite or fool, but I don't resent his decades-long advocacy for addressing climate change being one of humanity's greatest challenges and priorities. You do.

evenkeel 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Yeah, spending decades advocating for a cause that is a hoax is REALLY noble. Getting rich while spending decades advocating for a cause that is a hoax is ...what? I don't resent it either, though I do laugh at it.

JCLifer 4 months, 2 weeks ago

47% avoid taxes quite well. This is a damn shame. Everyone should have at least 10% of their income in as some skin in the game. Freeloading is tacky at best.

JCLifer 4 months, 2 weeks ago

This story just smells like the other one about the $10 million in state tax credits the St. Louis campaign donor.. er real estate developer quietly received from the Nixon administration last week, just prior to the legislature meeting next week, and tax credit reform is high on their list.

The state's revenue is in pitiful shape, and the same party that calls for revenue (tax) increases is the same party that is shoveling out the favors to the campaign donors before that door gets slammed shut...

spelchek 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Current TV is terrible...birds of feather I suppose.

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