Al Gore Throws Hat Into The IPO Ring...

from the not-quite-what-some-were-expecting dept

While there's still some speculation about an Al Gore run for the presidency, it appears he's got bigger fish to fry, such as an IPO for his cable TV station Current Media. Honestly, it looks like a tough sell as an IPO. It's not profitable. There are some serious questions about how viable a business it can be, and its "unique" angles, such as embracing the internet, haven't been all that successful (almost all of its revenue still comes from the TV side). If it succeeds as an IPO, it may be entirely on the strength of Gore's name, which seems like the opposite of what the company should want at this point.

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

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  1. it will by boomhauer on Jan 28th, 2008 @ 6:17pm

    if he can sell global warming, he can sell an IPO. easy.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re: it will by Mike on Jan 28th, 2008 @ 6:35pm

    The facts are not hard to sell...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: it will by Anonymous Coward on Jan 28th, 2008 @ 6:39pm

    You mean he sold global warming as a great business idea. The earth would have warmed up quietly, but now we can make money off of that, too!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. I thought it was profitable.. by Devang on Jan 28th, 2008 @ 8:44pm

    It seems to have a lot of big name advertisers now and if it isn't profitable yet, it should be very soon. The content is cheap (and very good, I've been watching it since launch) and they have certainly doe better than Fox business for being in the same amount of homes.

    A $100 million IPO on $67 million revenues with 68% growth doesn't seem too bad, but then I know nothing of valuations.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. also.. by Devang on Jan 28th, 2008 @ 9:33pm

    The average viewer probably doesn't know how Gore is associated with the network. He seems to promote it about as much his other upstart The Real News, which is none. If the IPO succeeds, it won't be because of Gore because the brand association just isn't there for either brand with the other.

    I just think it's a good network, now if only someone would bittorrent or youtube the individual pods, it would be getting somewhere.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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