The Al Jazeera America experiment is over

Employees of the network were informed of the news at an all-staff meeting on Wednesday, according to a Politico report.

The closure relates just to the American channel, not the global print arm headquartered in the Middle East.

In a memo to staff today, Al-Jazeera America Chief Executive Al Anstey said Al-Jazeera was closing shop in the United States because its business model was unsustainable.

In a memo, Al Jazeera America CEO Al Anstey applauded the work done at the channel.

The announcement comes less than a month after AJAM made headlines for airing a documentary that claimed Manning – and a number of other professional athletes – used performance-enhancing drugs.

Moreover, the network was nearly immediately confronted with challenges as distributors, including Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) and AT&T Inc (T.N), argued that they had contracted with Current TV and not Al Jazeera. The deal was brokered for $500 million.

Al Jazeera America launched in 2013, replacing Current TV, but, as The New York Times notes, the network’s prime time ratings proved continually disappointing.

Al-Jazeera America cited financial considerations, not the blowback over its hotly disputed sports-doping report, for its decision Wednesday to pull the plug after less than three years on the air.

Al Jazeera says it will expand its digital operations to maintain a strong presence in the United States.

Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster, created the channel in an effort to lure the USA audience to their brand of news, with more of a global perspective and depth, counter to the more “bite-sized” offerings of other US-based news channels. “We have increasingly set ourselves apart from all the rest”, he added.

Al Jazeera America had invested in some in-depth reporting and commentary, but its ratings have remained anemic since launch.

Anstey said: “I have witnessed and worked alongside some of the most talented people any organisation could wish for”.

Al Jazeera also could not overcome suspicion among some potential viewers about its motives bred in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Seeking to put a positive spin on things, Al Jazeera itself announced that the company will be expanding its digital offerings to make up for the loss of its American wing.