Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself

New York Times blogs ^ | Jan. 3, 2012 | By BRIAN STELTER

[Brad from Tennessee]

Al Gore’s Current TV was never popular with viewers, but it was a hit where it counted: with cable and satellite providers. When he co-founded the channel in 2005, Mr. Gore managed to get the channel piped into tens of millions of households — a huge number for an untested network — through a combination of personal lobbying and arm-twisting of industry giants.

He called on those skills again after deciding in December to sell Current TV to Al Jazeera for $500 million. To preserve the deal — and the estimated $100 million he would personally receive — he went to some of those same distributors, who were looking for an excuse to drop the low-rated channel, and reminded them that their contracts with Current TV called it a news channel. Were the distributors going to say that an American version of Al Jazeera didn’t qualify, possibly invoking ugly stereotypes of the Middle Eastern news giant?

[Brad from Tennessee]

When Glenn Beck inquired about purchasing Current TV he "was rebuffed in 15 minutes." . .“We were not allowed to the table,” he said. “He didn’t sell to the highest bidder. He looked for, Who do I ideologically align with?” Mr. Beck’s producer Stu Burguiere added, “The guy who was vice president of the United States and was 537 votes away from being president during 9/11 is ideologically aligned, by his own definition, with the network that Osama bin Laden went to every time he wanted to get a message out.”

[2ndDivisionVet]

Does the deal include a masseuse in a burka?

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Does the deal include a masseuse in a burka?]

If she knows how to release Gore's second chakra.

[FlingWingFlyer]

MuzZee TV

[Gene Eric]

Al Gorezeera!

[Brad from Tennessee]

[. . .To preserve the deal — and the estimated $100 million he would personally receive — he went to some of those same distributors, who were looking for an excuse to drop the low-rated channel, and reminded them that their contracts with Current TV called it a news channel. Were the distributors going to say that an American version of Al Jazeera didn’t qualify, possibly invoking ugly stereotypes of the Middle Eastern news giant?]

According to the story, Gore was prepared to use the “towel head” race card if any distributor turned up his nose at Al Jazeera. Time Warner has said it won't honor the old contract and others are sure to follow.

[moovova]

Just another example of Gore’s leadership in the “green” industry...

...$100,000,000 worth of green.