Politico:
Al Jazeera America, a cable news channel that debuted in August 2013, is shutting down. Employees were informed of the decision during an all-hands staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Al Jazeera made a mission of doing in-depth, enterprising reportage that would eschew what it saw as the frenetic, soundbite-heavy character of U.S. cable news.
But the channel failed to build up a substantial viewership here, and was available only in about 60 million American homes, compared with roughly 100 million households that have cable TV. It’s ratings were paltry compared to the big-three cable news channels.
The channel also faced internal turmoil, most notably a series of discrimination lawsuits that led to the ouster of Al Jazeera America’s founding CEO.