Sky makes 'commercial decision' to let go of documentary channel that has struggled for ratings

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Al Gore's Current TV channel in the UK is facing closure after BSkyB – part owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation – axed it from its pay-TV lineup.

The satellite broadcaster took a "commercial decision" to let go of the news and documentary channel from its subscription service, which launched in a blaze of publicity in 2007 but has since struggled for ratings.

The decision comes months after Current TV's Italian network was dropped by Murdoch's Sky Italia, prompting accusations from the channel that it was taken off air for political reasons.

Current TV is also available on Virgin Media and online, and would be able to continue on the Sky platform as a free-to-air channel – but low audience figures mean it is unlikely to generate much in advertising.

The bulk of the liberal TV station's funding had come from its pay-TV deal with Sky – understood to be worth several million pounds a year – and the channel's 23 staff were warned at a meeting on Wednesday morning that its future is bleak.

Current TV features news and documentary programming, much of it from independent producers new to television.

It also shows original first-run series such as 50 Documentaries to See Before You Die, fronted by Morgan Spurlock, and will broadcast the television premiere of award-winning film documentary Shed Your Tears and Walk Away on 5 February.

Joel Hyatt, chief executive of parent company Current Media and co-founder of the channel with Gore, said: "Sky is shutting down an intelligent alternative to mass market programming."

He added: "By doing so, Sky is once again discriminating in favour of the networks it owns and the points of view News Corporation agrees with."

Jane Mote, Current TV's UK managing director, said: "It is looking likely we will have to close on 11 March. A large part of our funds comes from the subscriber fees we get from Sky.

"Unless we can find a rescue plan … the timescale is very difficult, that is why we are having to warn our staff.

"Literally every hour is counting at the moment. If we had a few more months we would be in a very strong position indeed. That is the frustration."

Current TV executives were informed of Sky's decision in December. They accused the satellite broadcaster of failing to give the channel enough notice to find another backer.

Mote said the decision had come when the channel was "on a high" with "more momentum and a better audience response than we have ever had".

BSkyB said the decision to remove the channel from its pay-TV lineup – it is currently included in its "entertainment extra" package of channels – was a commercial one.

Current TV's audience in Sky homes has more than doubled in the past 12 months – but its rating are poor. Its average peaktime audience in November last year, of 4,700 viewers, was its highest yet.

Across all platforms, Current TV claims a monthly reach of 2 million viewers.

Neither Current TV nor Sky would discuss the value of the carriage deal to the five-year-old network.

Current TV's five-year deal to be carried on Virgin Media also expires in March. Both companies said negotiations were ongoing.

BSkyB's commercial director Rob Webster said: "Content is at the heart of Sky's business and we're committed to investing in the cut-through programming that matters most to our customers.

"We already spend more than £350m a year with pay channel partners, but we need to make this investment work hard in delivering high-quality, pay-exclusive content that gives customers more reasons to subscribe.

"On the basis that Current TV hasn't made the impact with our customers that we'd hoped for, we've decided not to renew our retail relationship.

"But as an open platform that helps many hundreds of channels reach more than 10 million Sky homes, Current TV still has a great opportunity to reach more than one in three UK and Irish homes. Should they choose to do so, we wish them well."

Current TV originally launched in the US in 2005 and is now available in about 30m homes stateside.

It promised to "democratise" television by opening up the airwaves to first-time producers and viewers, with about a third of its content created by its audience.

Al Gore and Rupert Murdoch became unlikely bedfellows when Sky announced it was bringing the channel to the UK.

James Murdoch, then chief executive of BSkyB, said the likes of Current TV would "force a mindset change [in the] comfort zone" of broadcasting by empowering viewers to make their own content.

Current TV said it had 116 shows in 2011 which premiered with more than 40,000 viewers, including Stephen Fry and Friends on the Life, Loves and Hates of Christopher Hitchens, which aired in November.

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