Al Jazeera America Shutting Down
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- The cable news channel Al Jazeera is shutting down by the end of April.
The closure was announced at a companywide meeting Wednesday, according to the New York Times.
Al Jazeera America's chief executive, Al Anstey, said in a memo the "decision by Al Jazeera America's board is driven by the fact that our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace."
AJAM debuted in 2013 after purchasing Al Gore's Current TV in 2013 for $500 million. Building a solid viewership was a challenge, however. The channel's Nielsen ratings were consistently low compared to other cable news networks.
Al Jazeera is based in Quatar and has dozens of bureaus around the world. New York-based AJAM had 12 bureaus across the country including one in San Francisco.
Anstey said the company will maintain a digital presence in the U.S. It is uncertain whether he was referring to San Francisco-based AJ+, the company's online news and current events channel.
