Al Jazeera America secures carriage with Time Warner Cable

US cable operator Time Warner Cable is to carry Al Jazeera’s US channel Al Jazeera America in a move that will serve as a significant boost for the new venture.

The deal struck with Al Jazeera America is the channel’s first major cable contract since it launched. Most of its existing contracts relate to the former Al Gore-backed Current TV network, which was taken over by Al Jazeera and closed earlier this year.

Time Warner Cable, which serves subscribers in the important New York and Los Angeles markets, in January took the opportunity of Al Jazeera’s acquisition of Current TV to remove the latter from its networks.

Al Jazeera America launched in August, leading to the removal of the Qatari network’s Al Jazeera English channel from the US.