Updated on January 13 at 5:41 p.m. ET

Al Jazeera America is shutting down in April less than three years after it began broadcasting in the United States, Al Anstey, its CEO, announced Wednesday.

Al Jazeera America will stop broadcasting on April 30, the company said in a statement, which added:

While Al Jazeera America built a loyal audience across the U.S. and increasingly was recognized as an important new voice in television news, the economic landscape of the media environment has driven its strategic decision to wind down its operations and conclude its service.

“I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future,” Anstey said in a memo to staff. “The decision that has been made is in no way because AJAM has done anything but a great job. Our commitment to great journalism is unrivaled.”

But, he added in the memo, the decision was driven by the fact that “our business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace.”

Al Jazeera America staffers also confirmed the news:

@petersagal Thanks Peter. Keep an ear out...somebody must want an experienced...BUT STILL YOUTHFUL guy! — Ray Suarez (@RaySuarezNews) January 13, 2016

Even though it's over, working at @AJAM was the wildest most intense rollercoaster ride in media. I don't regret a moment. — Paul Harris (@paulxharris) January 13, 2016

News of the channel’s closure was announced to workers at an unscheduled staff meeting on Wednesday. Al Jazeera America, the U.S. arm of the pan-Arab Arabic-language network financed by the government of Qatar, began broadcasting in the U.S. in 2013, after its parent company paid Al Gore and his partners $500 million for Current TV.