Al Jazeera America to Shut Down

The day that Al Jazeera America launched, FTVLive predicted that it would not find and audience and it would not last.

Well, not to say we told you so, but AJA announced that they are shutting down operations in April.

On their website, AJA writes, Al Jazeera America will shutter its cable TV and digital operations by April 30 of this year, the company announced Wednesday. The decision by the AJAM board 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”, said AJAM CEO Al Anstey.

“I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future,” Anstey wrote in an email addressed to all of the company’s employees.  The decision was no reflection on the work of that staff, he said. “Our commitment to great journalism is unrivaled.  We have increasingly set ourselves apart from all the rest. And you are the most talented team any organization could wish for.”

A number of people took jobs with Al Jazeera acting as if it was the holy grail of TV news. FTVLive predicted that the channel would never gain and audience and we expected it would eventually sign off.

That is now going to happen.

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