Current Tv

Current Media , the media company backed by former Vice President Al Gore, has cancelled the $100 million IPO that it originally announced in January 2008. In a document submitted earlier today, Current TV attributed the IPO's cancellation to the current economy: In light of current market conditions, the Registrant has determined not to proceed at this time with the public offering contemplated by the Registration Statement. The Registrant hereby confirms that no securities have been sold pursuant to the Registration Statement...

Critical Loop Information Bulletin for heads of state, foreign ministers and their chefs: An excellent meal of fine food and wine has often been the key to successful diplomatic negotiations. So if you're hosting Secretary of State John Kerry , here are some pointers. In arranging a dinner with the former senator last year, one host asked whether Kerry had meal preferences. One aide e-mailed: "Anything is good, as long as there is no celery involved. " Celery? Shades of President George H.W. Bush 's war on broccoli back in...

Former MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann has returned to the airwaves, with a new ‘Countdown' program premiering Monday night on the Current TV network. As Hank Stuever reported : Olbermann. You might have missed him, but rest assured, nobody missed him on television as much as he missed himself being on television. The steely stare, the Frankenstein shoulders, the grape necktie, the imperious certitude, the central vent unit strenuously set to blow at medium blast, the zings ricocheting back and...

So much has been written — some of it by me — about how poor Al Gore was all but forced to follow in his daddy the senator's footsteps, eventually succumbing to pressure to take up his line of work, and take on his unfulfilled ambitions. Yet now that the former vice president is without any question writing his own script, and can follow any path he likes, the one he's chosen with the sale of his Current TV network to Qatar-funded Al-Jazeera is not just hypocritical, but awfully familiar to those who remember what his...

The announcement that al-Jazeera is buying Al Gore's Current TV network can be expected to run into what pundits call "a serious image problem. " Allowing the Qatar-based, Arab-owned network to be seen in 40 million U.S. households may be more than our fragile citizenry can bear. With its alleged positions against U.S. foreign policies and wars, al-Jazeera is just too "left" to be allowed access to our fearful public. Has anyone noticed that much of the world is "left" of the United States?

Current TV becomes the latest television network to sever a stormy relationship with famously fractious Keith Olbermann. Current TV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said in a letter to viewers that they decided to cut bait because the relationship no longer represented "the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. " Olbermann's prime-time show, "Countdown" has been replaced, effective immediately, by a new show anchored by former New York governor/former CNN show anchor...

Al Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against global warming, may gross about $70 million from the sale of his Current TV network to al-Jazeera, the cable channel funded in part by oil-rich Qatar. Al-Jazeera will pay about $500 million for Current TV, including the stake held by Gore, 64, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. The network is one of dozens of investments made by the former vice president since he lost the 2000 presidential race...

Since its launch in 2006, al-Jazeera TV's English-language news channel has racked up prestigious journalism awards for its reporting on international issues, including the Arab Spring uprisings. The problem: Hardly anyone sees al-Jazeera English (AJE) because few cable TV operators carry it. On Wednesday, al-Jazeera's owner — the emir of the oil- and natural gas-rich Persian Gulf state of Qatar — sought to change that. Al-Jazeera will pay an...

Current TV, backed by Al Gore, is going through a bit of its own gore today, as it laid off about 60 of its employees. The exact count: it is eliminating 60 positions in U.S. but is adding 30 new positions, and many laid off will be offered those new positions. The total staff count left now is 410. This comes a day after it announced its expansion into Canada, in a tie-up with CBC there. The company already has channels here in U.S., Britain, Ireland and...

These are 23 (more) facts, tried and true, about the widening world of sports television: 1. I just passed the 50,000-hour mark lifetime for watching TV. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2,000 hours. 2. ESPN has hired a "director of production analytics. " It's a stats job; I was not considered for the position. 3. Per Hubie Brown's advice, when I go to my grave, I hope I remember I can't take my timeouts with me. 4. Considering it ended up hiring Eliot Spitzer and Piers Morgan , I think CNN might want to...

Al Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against global warming, may gross about $70 million from the sale of his Current TV network to al-Jazeera, the cable channel funded in part by oil-rich Qatar. Al-Jazeera will pay about $500 million for Current TV, including the stake held by Gore, 64, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. The network is one of dozens of investments made by the former vice president since he lost the 2000 presidential race by a slim margin.

The announcement that al-Jazeera is buying Al Gore's Current TV network can be expected to run into what pundits call "a serious image problem. " Allowing the Qatar-based, Arab-owned network to be seen in 40 million U.S. households may be more than our fragile citizenry can bear. With its alleged positions against U.S. foreign policies and wars, al-Jazeera is just too "left" to be allowed access to our fearful public. Has anyone noticed that much of the world is "left" of the United States?

Since its launch in 2006, al-Jazeera TV's English-language news channel has racked up prestigious journalism awards for its reporting on international issues, including the Arab Spring uprisings. The problem: Hardly anyone sees al-Jazeera English (AJE) because few cable TV operators carry it. On Wednesday, al-Jazeera's owner — the emir of the oil- and natural gas-rich Persian Gulf state of Qatar — sought to change that. Al-Jazeera will pay an undisclosed sum —...

HIGHLIGHTS SERIES PREMIERE: The game show "Totally Clueless" (MTV at 7) puts a twist on the hidden camera series as a team of comedians puts random people in awkward situations — and the sooner they realize they're on a TV show, the more money they win. In the opener, signing an apartment lease becomes difficult, and a bridal shop gets a visit from some interesting customers. TLC starts airing extended episodes of "Breaking Amish" beginning at 8 p.m., starting with the fourth episode, in which...

Because there just aren't enough debates in this election cycle — and because when TV on-air pundits cover presidential elections, it really is All About Them — two debates have been announced in the past few days that don't involve the candidates. On Tuesday, Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions and Bill O'Reilly's Straight Talk companies announced that for just $4.95, you can live-stream a faceoff between the Comedy Central faux newsman and the Fox News Channel prime-time host, which will be Oct. 6 at...

Fox News Channel's 10 to 11-ish p.m. coverage of Clint Eastwood's debate with a chair — followed by Mitt Romney's acceptance speech — was the country's second-most-watched TV program last week. Romney, Eastwood & Chair finished the week trailing only Howard Stern & "America's Got Talent" on NBC; the telecasts averaged 9.1 million viewers and 9.9 million viewers, respectively. But FNC wasn't the only network that brought you Chair, Dotty Harry & Romney; the Republican National...

In a shift, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today called for the North Korean government to grant "amnesty" to two jailed American reporters, dropping previous demands that they be freed on humanitarian grounds. "The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened," Clinton told State Department officials at a town hall meeting in Washington. "What we hope for now is that these two young women would be...

Current Media , the parent of Al Gore-based Current TV, has replaced the longtime CEO Joel Hyatt with another media vet: Mark Rosenthal, who has been Current's board since it was founded four years ago, is taking over as CEO of the still-nascent venture. Till recently he was vice chairman and president of media platforms at the troubled online TV/ad startup SpotRunner. Prior to that he was president and COO of MTV Networks ( NYSE: VIA ) for nearly a decade, before becoming...

Sergey Brin hasn't been afraid of taking Google's Project Glass augmented reality prototype out on the town . Most recently, Brin brought Project Glass to an interview with California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom on The Gavin Newsom Show — in a short clip, Brin actually lets Newsom try Project Glass on for himself. In a quick exchange, Brin tells Newsom how he just took a photo without his interviewer even noticing; Newsom wanted proof, so Brin just let him try the glasses on and see it...

Current TV becomes the latest television network to sever a stormy relationship with famously fractious Keith Olbermann. Current TV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said in a letter to viewers that they decided to cut bait because the relationship no longer represented "the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. " Olbermann's prime-time show, "Countdown" has been replaced, effective immediately, by a new show anchored by former New York governor/former...