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Cutting Current TV

Al Gore’s cable network may not be renewable

Current TV’s problems just keep on coming.

Cable providers may stop carrying Al Gore’s alternative news network as a result of its plummeting ratings, according to Reuters.

According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, Time Warner Cable Inc's carriage agreement with Current TV stipulates that, if the left-leaning political news network fails to meet a minimum threshold for overall viewers in a given quarter, financial penalties such as Current TV being required to increase marketing and promotion spending on the cable operator's systems are triggered.

If Current TV misses the audience benchmark in two consecutive quarters, another clause is triggered that would allow Time Warner Cable to drop the channel. The condition was built into the most recent distribution pact between the two parties, which was signed in 2010.

"Time Warner Cable has been flirting with the idea of pulling Current off its systems for some time now," said one of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.

The network’s most recent headaches began when Olbermann, the hot-tempered liberal pundit, was fired for skipping work on important primary election days, squabbling with management, and abusing chauffeurs. He told David Letterman on Tuesday that he plans to sue the network.