Al Jazeera Buys Al Gore's Current TV Channel

Goodbye Current TV, hello Al Jazeera America. Al Gore's struggling cable network has been bought by the pan-Arab news agency, which will get a long-sought "pathway into American living rooms," reports the New York Times. The changes probably won't take effect for about 3 months, at which point most of Current TV's lineup is expected to get the axe. Al Jazeera will create a channel called Al Jazeera America, with most of its programming produced in the US. Its debut should be available to about 60 million homes with cable or satellite.

“Al Jazeera is planning to invest significantly in building ‘Al Jazeera America,’ a network focused on international news for the American audience,” Current co-founder Joel Hyatt told staffers in an email. “Al and I will both serve on the advisory board of Al Jazeera America, and we look forward to helping build an important news network.” In seven years, Current probably got its biggest share of attention over its hiring and firing of Keith Olbermann. (More al-Jazeera stories.)