MUMBAI: Al Gore‘s Current TV channel is facing closure after BSkyB dropped it from its pay-TV lineup.

The channel has found it hard to maintain viewership. The channel, which is also carried by Virgin Media, seems likely to close on 11 March 2012 state, media reports.

Current Media CEO Joel Hyatt has accused Sky of shutting down an intelligent alternative to mass market programming. “By doing so, Sky is once again discriminating in favour of the networks it owns and the points of view News Corporation agrees with.”

Under the terms of the existing, deal, Sky pays a per-customer subscription fee to Current TV for appearing as a pay TV channel on its platform, which reaches over 10 million homes. Without the revenue from the carriage deal, Current TV says that it cannot afford to continue operating.

Sky’s commercial director Rob Webster said, “Despite investing significantly in Current TV since its UK launch the in 2006, the channel simply hasn’t made the impact with our customers that we hoped for. That is why we’ve decided not to renew our retail relationship."

The channel had been launched five years back.