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Al Gore's Current Media Plans to Sell Shares in IPO

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Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Current Media Inc., the television news network co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, plans to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering.

...
Current Media, which has yet to turn an annual profit, lost $9.86 million in 2007. The company said it expects to continue to incur losses in the future as it invests more money to build the business.


Just want to know what all of ya think about this.
Didn't Current turn a profit last year? That's what I heard.
stardate

9 responses // Al Gore's Current Media Plans to Sell Shares in IPO

  • It's losing money? I had no idea. Current is the best media aggregating sites. I hope the public sale doesn't imped on the site's growth.
    tranism
  • I think this site is excellent, but it needs more of a facebook function, connectivity to others -- that would boost interest and sales
    robertforchange
  • I seem to remember in 2007 there was a post in the old forums that said the company turned a "small profit" in 2006.

    it sure seems like a bad time to launch an IPO with the stock market doing what it's doing, but what do I know. Google did the same thing in an iffy market post 9/11 and they blasted off to $600/share in a few years.

    Is there a hard date set for the IPO? My curiosity is piqued.

    From the article:

    " Loss Rate: the company's net loss last year was about 15 percent of revenue, an improvement from 20 percent and 58 percent in 2006 and 2005, respectively. Current Media has a loss rate that is ``acceptable for basically a startup in their business'' and may have breakeven ``in sight,'' Gaskins said. "

    (I guess that answers that.)

    -zen
    zenbeer
  • @ Zen

    "I seem to remember in 2007 there was a post in the old forums that said the company turned a "small profit" in 2006."

    I remember, too. What happened?
    If that story was bogus who was the source?
    stardate
  • I thought I read an article about Current that said they made money in their first year?

    It's worth noting, however, that many cable network startups, or any broadcasting startup for that matter, take a while running at a loss to build up their base. If you want to license a TV or radio station with the FCC you need to prove that you have the financing to run for at least 2 years without making any money. I think even Fox News lost like 100 million dollars or something huge like that in it's first 2 or 3 years.
    Plisko
  • I dug the story out from here:

    http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/gores-current-dreams-o...

    "The operation is making a small profit, according to Derek Baine, a senior analyst with Monterey-based Kagan Research, though I am not sure that is verifiable yet."

    So I don't fault whomever originally stated it here, they were probably quoting Derek Baine. And Plisko is right, Current may have lost money, but less year over year, and most start ups do. How many years did Newscorp lose money on FOX News before they found an audience?

    -zen
    zenbeer
  • I hear Fox lost many millions before being crowned news king. Whatever its ultimate fate Current has given many of us a thrilling online news/culture home. G-d bless Al, Joel and their media baby.
    afreeman
  • http://current.com/items/88827383_nkotb_is_back
    Image...
    finally, some share holder accountability for the newkid on the block.

    smells like democracy* to me.
    ...calling my FA right now.

    as a shareholding voter/citizen of current.inc , the first proposition i'd like my board to consider would be vast expansion and restructuring of the vcam department (followed by every other department) ...also recruiting some huge new sponsors to buy adspace somewhere on website (holla at ya boy Sir Branson)......and heavy promotion and co-market-partnering with all the big boys on the web:

    http://current.com/items/88824996_wikidigglicioutubloga...

    http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihJQCBz_iyyvm7p3Kteo...

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/30/itvbusin...
    smorrisey
  • "smells like democracy* to me."

    Yea. . . stockholder democracy, where only "property owners" have voting rights.

    Your voting power is directly proportional to your ownership. If you own a lot, everybody listens, if you own nothing, nobody cares.

    Wow. . . now that's progress.

    Democracy with an asterix indeed. . . lol

    And we all know how well media companies do when "we have our stockholders to answer to"

    I'm not sure how I feel about this. Commercial pressures are already beating this new revolutionary idea down into "common wisdom" Will this make that better or worse?
    Plisko

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