Glenn Beck Tried To Purchase Current TV

[marble falls]

Source: HuffPost

Glenn Beck's media empire tried to acquire Current TV, the Wall Street Journal reported. Beck also addressed his attempt to purchase the network Thursday morning (see update below).

News broke that Al Jazeera purchased the progressive news network and announced its plans to launch Al Jazeera America on Wednesday. Current TV had been searching for a buyer for some time, and had reportedly turned down some offers.

The Journal reported:

Other suitors who didn't share Current's ideology were rebuffed. Glenn Beck's The Blaze approached Current about buying the channel last year, but was told that "the legacy of who the network goes to is important to us and we are sensitive to networks not aligned with our point of view," according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

After Al Jazeera purchased Current TV, Time Warner Cable dropped the U.S. channel from its lineup. The Huffington Post's Michael Calderone reported that "Some media observers interpreted the move as motivated by politics."

UPDATE: Thursday, 11:56 a.m.: Beck spoke about his failed attempt to purchase Current TV Thursday morning. Beck charged that an inquiry into purchasing Current made by his media company, Mercury Radio Arts, was rejected by founder Al Gore within 15 minutes. He also said that Al Jazeera was not the highest bidder.

"[Gore] didn’t sell to the highest bidder. We were not allowed to the table. He didn’t sell to the highest bidder. He looked for, who do I ideologically align with," Beck said.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/03/glenn-beck-purchase-current-tv-report_n_2402273.html?ref=topbar

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I guess Beck couldn't sell enough gold!

[loudsue]

1. If time warner really dropped Current, we need to raise holy hell.

What in the fuck is wrong with this country??

[marble falls]

2. Allergy to reality.

[shadowwinds]

7. Time Warner not alone.

I tried to tune in Bill Press this morning and the screen was black. When I called Bright House Cable here in Tampa they said that they HAD to drop it immediately because of the "sale agreement". I said that seemed unusual since they always had posted streaming trailers letting customers know when a station was going off the air . When Bright House uses these trailers they tell customers to contact the station to let them know that we want it to stay on. Well, I guess Bright House doesn't want it on because they didn't tell us to contact the new owners.

[alp227]

17. Thanks for sharing this story, and welcome to DU!

[Joe Bacon]

15. It was gone from my Time Warner box last night

No Cenk.

Instead a black screen that said THIS CHANNEL IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

But I'm sure Beck's channel o'crap will replace it.

PS--FUCK YOU, BECK!

[alp227]

18. i thought the Blaze channel was an online/Dish-exclusive channel.

do you have any sources suggesting The Blaze TV will expand to cable service?

[Joe Bacon]

21. Time Warner told me that The Blaze may replace Current.

I told them point blank that if they did that, they would lose my cable business.

[alp227]

22. Yikes. I never thought Time Warner Cable would have such right wing ownership.

I wonder if TWC also puts MSNBC but not Fox News beyond the basic tier. Oh wait, TW also owns CNN, that must be why!

[patrice]

3. I'm hoping Beck's losing hand on this deal indicates some structural cracks in MSM. nt

[marble falls]

4. Other than that structural crack on Beck's noggin? I do so hope so!

[DemoTex]

5. Beck beat out by Al Jareeza ..

Too much irony for my blood!

[LiberalLovinLug]

6. Would Time/Warner have dropped a Beck owned empire?

I shudder to think of it. It is a travesty of outrageous proportions that such a vile crazy nut job like that has been paid like a king and stocked up enough wealth to even enter a bid like this.

[Kip Humphrey]

8. T-W "motivated by politics"... Politics my ass, motivated by racial hatred is more like it.

[WillyT]

9. K & R !!!

[Plucketeer]

10. I have to wonder

how long Beck sobbed after being turned down!

[Great Caesars Ghost]

11. One thing the refusal did prove

is that this had nothing to do with money, only facts and substance, despite the fact that Beck's was not a serious attepted purchase.

[dembotoz]

12. TO ALL THOSE WHO CLAIM CRAZY MAN GLENN BECK MUST BE BROKE AFTER LEAVING FOX

it would appear that he must be doing rather well.

current tv may not be the most expensive cable station in the world

but to try to purchase it without being the low bid would mean he not only has a single pot to piss in
but he must have many pots

[niyad]

14. or he is a total blow-hard

[niyad]

13. hey, crybecky--a company sold to whom it preferred, and you weren't it--some things are not

about money.

[djean111]

16. Maybe Beck thought he was bidding on ebay.

The funniest part is Beck being amazed that the amount of money was not the most important thing.
And people having principles that are above money.
Cognitive dissonance sort of thing there, for him.

[JI7]

19. But some claim Gore only cares about making money for himself

see thread in GD .

[djean111]

24. That reminds me of one of the most bizarre things about the extreme righties.

And yes, there are a lot of bizarre things.
They point out Gore's wealth as if we liberals (or Dems or progressives or whatever) should turn on him because he is rich.
They don't get it that it is how you get the money and what you do with it that counts.
But I think they feel all Dems, etc. are supposed to be poor and so, of course, we must hate all rich people.
In their world, profiting off of alternative energies is a sin - unless they have figured out a way to privatize and withhold it and dribble it out in expensive spoonfuls.
I can imagine them sitting around trying to figure out how to block sunlight - and then looking at the next best thing - severely restricting solar panels by making them very expensive, or putting electric company rules in place that make it difficult to go solar just part of the time.

[Ilsa]

20. I thought you were only required to sell to the highest bidder if you

were a government employee or contractor, using taxpayer money, etc.

Tough luck, Beck. We don't have to do business your way.

[marble falls]

23. I wondered if he sniveled at the news.

[MrSlayer]

25. The fact that a nimrod like Beck has that kind of money is depressing.

We truly are a nation of idiots.

[arcane1]

27. You're cute...

wanna go out sometime?

[marble falls]

28. The way NBC/General Electric support the wars in Afghanistan or Libya ....

or Iraq .....? Actually al Jazeera is more mainstream than you think.