Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:03 PM Jan 2013

Al Jazeera is buying Current TV

Al Jazeera is finalizing a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore and his business partners seven years ago.

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 existing 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. Potentially called Al Jazeera America, roughly 60 percent of the programming will be produced in the United States while the remaining 40 percent will come from Al Jazeera English.

Al Jazeera may absorb some Current TV staff members, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But Current’s schedule of shows will most likely be dissolved in the spring.The plan will bring Al Jazeera, which is financed by the government of Qatar, into closer competition with CNN and other news channels in the United States.



http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/al-jazeera-said-to-be-acquiring-current-tv/?smid=tw-share
41 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Al Jazeera is buying Current TV (Original Post) octoberlib Jan 2013 OP
If they toss Cenk and Granholm DonCoquixote Jan 2013 #1
Cenk will do fine regardless... physioex Jan 2013 #28
Cenk and Granholm are my favorites on Current. I'll miss them. n/t RebelOne Jan 2013 #30
I'm not too happy about this Nictuku Jan 2013 #2
+1 SunSeeker Jan 2013 #3
ah, so your the guy that watches Current... crazyjoe Jan 2013 #32
The only decent TV station left. tomg Jan 2013 #4
I love Current TV Too. octoberlib Jan 2013 #5
I sometimes read and watch tomg Jan 2013 #7
Just tell them the company went to the highest bidder. God bless free enterprise! Aristus Jan 2013 #21
No Steph, no eyes on glass n/t RomneyLies Jan 2013 #6
So, on the same day Stephanie Miller disappears from Seattle radio... regnaD kciN Jan 2013 #8
CRAP! I watch Cenk every night @ 7pm NOVA_Dem Jan 2013 #9
I don't think it's supposed to happen for 3 more months. octoberlib Jan 2013 #10
If Al Jazeera management is smart, they'll keep all the Progressive pundits Larkspur Jan 2013 #11
Progressive American media...oxymoron? freckleface Jan 2013 #12
I got a Tweet from Jeremy Scahill saying that.... IWelcome TheirHatred Jan 2013 #13
Boo! Hopefully they'll find another home. nt octoberlib Jan 2013 #14
The deal just went through. octoberlib Jan 2013 #15
Joel Hyatt just sent the memo to staff Z_I_Peevey Jan 2013 #17
Yes, the Current talent and staffers I follow on Twitter Z_I_Peevey Jan 2013 #16
It sucks that they're killing the Current lineup, but I do like Al-Jazeera's news..... marmar Jan 2013 #18
Please don't FresnoDemocrat Jan 2013 #23
I unfortunately don't get RT..... physioex Jan 2013 #33
I hope Stephanie goes back to Ustream, as she did before Current. GoCubsGo Jan 2013 #19
I never understood why they didn't do that. nt octoberlib Jan 2013 #20
aaaaand the right wing nutjob crap is already starting octoberlib Jan 2013 #22
Time to dust this off: Fawke Em Jan 2013 #24
Oh, that's priceless! nt octoberlib Jan 2013 #26
Well . . . CobaltBlue Jan 2013 #25
I've given up on progressive radio and MSNBC - Currant is all I have left! Peregrine Took Jan 2013 #27
It was nice to know you, Current. ProudToBeBlueInRhody Jan 2013 #29
Lovely. That's all we need. Don't know which I like better - Sarah Ibarruri Jan 2013 #31
What's wrong with Al-Jazeera? physioex Jan 2013 #34
Lovely jihadist news channel. That's all we need. This country is already f'd, and in they come nt Sarah Ibarruri Jan 2013 #35
How can a mighty superpower be threatened by a television channel? physioex Jan 2013 #36
Are you calling me a mighty superpower? nt Sarah Ibarruri Jan 2013 #37
Have you actually seen the programs on Al-Jazeera? physioex Jan 2013 #38
No. It's enough for me that they're giving a podium to Jihadists. Sarah Ibarruri Jan 2013 #39
I would call this pre-judging (prejudice)..... physioex Jan 2013 #40
I would call it smart. My enemy can do no right as long as he's my enemy. nt Sarah Ibarruri Jan 2013 #41

physioex

(6,890 posts)
28. Cenk will do fine regardless...
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 09:21 PM
Jan 2013

He has a very loyal following on Youtube, and hopefully it won't make any difference. I am going to miss the Gavin Newsom show the most.

Nictuku

(3,607 posts)
2. I'm not too happy about this
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:07 PM
Jan 2013

.... I am a Current watcher, but if they replace it with Al Jazeera, I can't see that I'll be tuning in much. I watch Bill Press in the early morning, and then Stephanie Miller when I'm able.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
5. I love Current TV Too.
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:12 PM
Jan 2013

I do have friends who read and watch Al Jazeera online because they feel it's a site where they can get unbiased American news.The conservatives are going to be screeching about the Muslims taking over the country.

tomg

(2,574 posts)
7. I sometimes read and watch
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:15 PM
Jan 2013

Al Jazeera. But couldn't they have bought the Golf Channel or the Bass Channel or one of those "Aliens Who Ran for the Presidency" channels.

Aristus

(66,328 posts)
21. Just tell them the company went to the highest bidder. God bless free enterprise!
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:16 PM
Jan 2013

See how they react to that!

regnaD kciN

(26,044 posts)
8. So, on the same day Stephanie Miller disappears from Seattle radio...
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:19 PM
Jan 2013

...we find we're going to lose her show on television as well.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
10. I don't think it's supposed to happen for 3 more months.
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:30 PM
Jan 2013

Surely another cable channel can be found for them. I get Left radio in my car but it's not the same.

 

Larkspur

(12,804 posts)
11. If Al Jazeera management is smart, they'll keep all the Progressive pundits
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:33 PM
Jan 2013

at least for a year. CNN sucks, so they shouldn't follow it's lead right now.
I wonder of Spitzer will stay if asked?

But I look forward to Al Jazeera planting a foot into American news and talk market. Maybe they will help balance out the "Israel is never wrong so you can't criticize them" coverage like we get on the other channels.

freckleface

(57 posts)
12. Progressive American media...oxymoron?
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 06:50 PM
Jan 2013

So, this was your best deal, Mr. Vice President? Progressive programing in radio markets rushing into the arms of sports, Air America defunct, and now CURRENT TV! Nightmare on Every Street!!

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
15. The deal just went through.
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 07:51 PM
Jan 2013

@brianstelter: Current will cease to exist. Gore will serve on the "advisory board" for "Al Jazeera America."

marmar

(77,078 posts)
18. It sucks that they're killing the Current lineup, but I do like Al-Jazeera's news.....
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 07:56 PM
Jan 2013

...... like RT, it provides some fresh perspective on America that you won't get from our PRAVDA-esque media.

FresnoDemocrat

(17 posts)
23. Please don't
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:35 PM
Jan 2013

insult AJ by comparing it to RT. AJE is a great news source, RT is basically the Russian Press TV except the anti-Americanism is more subtle.

physioex

(6,890 posts)
33. I unfortunately don't get RT.....
Thu Jan 3, 2013, 02:40 AM
Jan 2013

But Thom Hartmann posts his clips and on youtube and DU, and I was quite impressed with what I saw.

GoCubsGo

(32,080 posts)
19. I hope Stephanie goes back to Ustream, as she did before Current.
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:00 PM
Jan 2013

The only difference between that and the Current show was that there was no news with Jackie Schechner, for whom I feel bad, as she'll be out of a job, while Steph and Bill Press will still have their radio shows. There are several radio stations that have web-streaming, such as WCPT out of Chicago, which I how I listen to them.

Too bad about Current, but it didn't help that most people have no access to it, other than bootleg web-streaming, which isn't always working. Maybe if they had subscription viewing online, they might have been able to survive.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
22. aaaaand the right wing nutjob crap is already starting
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:25 PM
Jan 2013

Bobphillypa ?@Bobphillypa
@current Ur being bought by a TERRORIST organization. Ull b unemployed soon, so stop tweeting now n start looking 4 a new job.

Fawke Em

(11,366 posts)
24. Time to dust this off:
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:52 PM
Jan 2013
During a recent Fox and Friends segment surrounding the Islamic cultural center/mosque that is proposed for Lower Manhattan, guest analyst Dan Senor pointed out that Imam Rauf had previously received funds from a Saudi organization that is alleged to also “fund radical madrassas all over the world” and is headed up by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal. Jon Stewart used that clip to then reveal that bin Talal just so happens to also be a large News Corp. business partner, or in his words, “The terror funder is Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corps’ funder!”

http://www.mediaite.com/online/jon-stewart-follows-the-money-claims-that-watching-fox-news-funds-terror-mosque/

Peregrine Took

(7,413 posts)
27. I've given up on progressive radio and MSNBC - Currant is all I have left!
Wed Jan 2, 2013, 09:06 PM
Jan 2013

If they don't keep Cenk I'm outta there, too.

physioex

(6,890 posts)
34. What's wrong with Al-Jazeera?
Thu Jan 3, 2013, 02:42 AM
Jan 2013

They have some wonderful documentaries on their youtube channel. Their news shows are also pretty decent.

Disclaimer: My cable TV provider does not provide Al-Jazeera.

physioex

(6,890 posts)
36. How can a mighty superpower be threatened by a television channel?
Thu Jan 3, 2013, 01:32 PM
Jan 2013

This sounds a lot like the Christian Talibornagain who think their mighty god would be threatened if we teach evolution or sex education.

Sarah Ibarruri

(21,043 posts)
39. No. It's enough for me that they're giving a podium to Jihadists.
Thu Jan 3, 2013, 01:48 PM
Jan 2013

I don't give a sh*t if they have a couple of great programs. I'm sure Ted Bundy had his good side too. Not interested.

physioex

(6,890 posts)
40. I would call this pre-judging (prejudice).....
Thu Jan 3, 2013, 01:56 PM
Jan 2013

Al-Jazeera reports on many things the western media does not cover. They are not a podium for Jihadists but a catalyst for change in the middle east. Before you accuse Al-Jazeera for being a podium for Jihadists, you should consider that the western media was (and is) a podium for Neocons and the corporate interests.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Al Jazeera is buying Curr...