FT.com / Media - Current TV plans to widen its web

It has built distribution to 60m US homes and another 15m in the UK, Italy, Ireland and South Africa, but its biggest shows pull in barely 25,000 US viewers. Hiring Mr Olbermann is a sure way to get attention.

“They told us it was impossible” to start an independent channel, “and we found out they were right,” Mr Gore says with a laugh on the sidelines of a presentation to advertisers. He is “very pleased” with Current’s profitability, which he politely declines to disclose, but hopes that Mr Olbermann will transform its fortunes.