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BRIEF: Many Mainers may not get Al-JazeeraJan 03, 2013 (Portland Press Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Qatar-based TV news network Al-Jazeera may soon be seen in millions of U.S. homes, but may not be widely available in Maine. Al-Jazeera has bought the cable channel Current TV, which was started by former Vice President Al Gore in 2005 and reaches 60 million U.S. households, and plans to transform it into a news channel called Al-Jazeera America, according to an announcement on its website Thursday. But many Mainers may not be able to ge the new network because Time Warner Cable, which is the state's largest cable provider with more than 360,000 customers, has announced it is dropping Current TV immediately. The Time Warner announcement included no explanation of the decision. Andrew Russell, a Maine spokesperson for Time Warner, said Thursday morning he will have information about the decision and its affect on Maine viewers at a later time. Current TV has been available in Greater Portland on Time Warner channel 148. Current TV is also carried in Maine by Comcast, Dish Network, and Direct TV. National representatives of those carriers had not announced their intentions Thursday morning. ___ (c)2013 the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine) Visit the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine) at www.pressherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |