5. Current TV
Current TV’s former host, Keith Olbermann, did not leave the station quietly, yet the public legal battle notwithstanding, analysts indicate Current TV was in trouble long before the rift. Nielsen reported that with Olbermann’s replacement, Eliot Spitzer, the audience shrank 70 percent. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Replacement Eliot Spitzer pulled an anemic 47,000 total viewers in the first outing of Viewpoint, with just 10,000 among adults 25-54.”
Al Gore owns Current TV, and cable giant Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) may have the right to discontinue carrying the channel due to the poor ratings.
