Current TV
| Current TV | |
|---|---|
Logo from 2011 to the network's closing.
|
|
| Launched | August 1, 2005 |
| Closed | August 20, 2013 |
| Owned by |
Al Gore and Joel Hyatt (2005–2013) Al Jazeera Media Network (2013) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California with secondary studios in Culver City, California and New York City |
| Replaced | Newsworld International |
| Replaced by |
Al Jazeera America AJ+ (occupies former building, studio and uses former infrastructure) |
| Sister channel(s) | Current TV UK (2007–2012) |
Current TV was an American television channel from August 1, 2005 to August 20, 2013. Al Gore, Joel Hyatt, and Ronald Burkle each held a sizable stake in Current. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smaller stake.
The channel started out as a user-generated content channel with content made by viewers in 15-minute blocks. The channel later switched formats to become an independent news network aimed at progressive politics. Neither format brought the success that Gore and Hyatt wanted which after multiple alterations in programming resulted in them selling the channel.
On January 2, 2013, it was announced that Current was sold by Gore and Hyatt to Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera Media Network, which stated that it planned on shutting down the Current TV channel, retaining its off-air staff, and launching a new New York-based channel called Al Jazeera America using Current's distribution network just as Current had done with its predecessor Newsworld International. It also stated it was planning on scrapping the channel's programming lineup and brand. Al Jazeera America replaced Current TV on August 20, 2013 at 3:00 pm Eastern/2:00 pm Central. The former headquarters is now the home of Al Jazeera's all online digital channel AJ+.
After the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Gore and Hyatt wanted to start a conventional cable news network. The plan evolved into making a viewer-generated channel aimed at an audience demographic age 18–34.
On May 4, 2004, INdTV Holdings, a company co-founded by Gore and Hyatt in 2002, purchased Canada-based cable news channel NewsWorld International (NWI) from NBCUniversal for the express purpose of launching their new network with the space on some digital cable lineups (and DirecTV) that NWI had. The new network would not have political leanings, Gore said, but would serve as an "independent voice" for a target audience of people between 18 and 34 "who want to learn about the world in a voice they recognize and a view they recognize as their own." Other reports said that Gore hoped that the channel would help change the tide of "consolidation and conglomeratization" of the media by leading the change to "democratization." The news network was said to be a combination between CNN, MTV, and blipverts. In the summer of 2004, Gore and Hyatt announced their new network, named INdTV, with a series of public recruitment events. The first of these events was held at the Bambuddha Lounge in San Francisco's Tenderloin, on August 25.
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