Al Gore says Al Jazeera has acquired Current TV

LOS ANGELES Al Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel that struggled to win space on American cable television, has acquired Current TV, boosting its reach nearly ninefold to about 40 million homes. With a focus on U.S. news, it plans to rebrand the left-leaning news network that co-founder Al Gore couldn't make relevant.

The former vice president confirmed the sale Wednesday, saying in a statement that Al Jazeera shared 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."

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The acquisition lifts Al Jazeera's reach beyond a few large U.S. metropolitan areas including New York and Washington, where about 4.7 million homes can now watch Al Jazeera English.

Al Jazeera, owned by the government of Qatar, plans to gradually transform Current into a new channel called Al Jazeera America by adding five to 10 new U.S. bureaus beyond the five it has now and hiring more journalists.

Al Jazeera spokesman Stan Collender said there are no rules against foreign ownership of a cable channel - unlike the strict rules limiting foreign ownership of free-to-air TV stations. He said the move is based on demand, adding that 40 percent of viewers on Al Jazeera English's website are from the U.S.

"This is a pure business decision based on recognized demand," Collender said. "When people watch Al Jazeera, they tend to like it a great deal."

Al Jazeera has long struggled to get carriage in the U.S., and the deal suffered an immediate casualty as Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable TV operator, announced it would drop Current TV due to the deal.

"Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

Previous to Al Jazeera's purchase, Current TV was in 60 million homes.