Twenty-three staff at Al Gore’s Current TV have begun to search for new work after attempts to rescue the UK channel failed and it is now set to cease broadcasting on March 11.
Satcaster BSkyB informed Current in January that it would not continue to fund the channel beyond the existing deal, which runs until March this year.
It offered Current the chance to remain on its EPG as either an advertiser or subscription-funded channel, but Current TV MD Jane Mote has confirmed to C21 that a rescue plan has failed and the channel will now close on March 11.
The closure will result in the loss of 23 jobs in the UK, including those of MD Mote and director of content Lina Prestwood, as well as loss of commissions for regular freelance and production companies such as Bright Hands Pictures, which produced returning Current series What Did I Do Last Night?
Mote said: “We were very close to finding a sustainable model but had an impossibly short amount of time given the late call by Sky on our funding.
“We totally accept it is Sky’s right to stop funding Current but we don’t accept the way that it was done, using out-dated inaccurate audience figures, or that we were given no warning before a sudden cut-off in funding just before Christmas, making a rescue plan unachievable.”
Current TV is also on Virgin Channel 155 to viewers on the TV Size XL Package.