Al Jazeera buys Current TV for $400-500 million; Time-Warner Cable immediately blocks the channel

Al-Jazeera, the Pan-Arab news channel owned by the government of Qatar, has paid (according to analysts) up to $500 million for Current TV, started in 2005 by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. Al-Jazeera is seen in only about 4.7 million households.
     Almost immediately, Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's #2 cable provider, announced it is dropping Current TV due to the deal.

Time-Warner CEO Glenn A Britt
TWC

     "Our agreement with Current has been terminated and we will no longer be carrying the service. We are removing the service as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement.

     Before Al-Jazeera's purchase, Current TV was in 60 million homes. Barring further defections, it will now be seen in 40 million homes.
     The Huffington Post notes:

     Al Jazeera America will be separate from Al Jazeera English, although roughly 40 percent of the new network's programming is expected to come from the English-language channel, which is based in Doha, Qatar.
     New York Times reporter Brian Stelter reported that Time Warner Cable had warned it might drop Current due to low ratings. On Twitter, Stelter noted that Al Jazeera will acquire Current's carriage deals with other cable providers, including DirecTV, Comcast, Dish, Verizon and AT&T.

     Qatar, the new owner of Current TV, is an oppresively antigay Islamic country ruled by Sharia Law. From Wikipedia:

Article 296 of the new "in force" penal code (Law 11/2004)[2] stipulate imprisonment between 1 and 5 years for sodomy.
     In 1995 an American citizen visiting Qatar was sentenced to six months in prison and 90 lashes, for homosexual activity.
     In the 1990s, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration informed Philippine workers that gay workers were prohibited in Qatar. This was in response to several mass arrests and deportations of Philippine workers in Qatar, for homosexuality.
     In 2002, protests arose concerning the new Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Human rights critics expressed concern that LGBT medical students might face trouble with the law for their sexual orientation.
     Qatar's record on LGBT rights became a source of debate again, with gay rights groups criticizing FIFA for choosing to host the event in a country where homosexuality is illegal.
     Richard de Mos, a member of the Dutch Parliament for the Freedom Party (PVV), has proposed that the Dutch football team play in pink, instead of the country's national colour, orange, to protest the gay rights situation in Qatar.