Former US vice president Mr Al Gore plans to build a youth-oriented cable television network he hopes will become an independent voice in a media industry dominated by large conglomerates.
Mr Gore led an investor group that bought Newsworld International from Vivendi Universal for an undisclosed sum. He plans to relaunch the yet-unnamed channel to focus on public affairs and entertainment for 18-to-34-year-olds and it will not have a political affiliation.
Speculation has swirled that Mr Gore would launch a network to counter Fox News Channel, which unseated CNN as the largest US cable news channel with a formula of combining hard news coverage with brash talk shows that some say is too right leaning.
"This is not going to be a liberal network, or a Democratic network in any way, shape, or form," the former vice president said.
Rather, he said, the reason for buying the network was to create an "independent source of information."
Mr Gore will serve as chairman of the new network. and said he he would be spending most of his time on the project.
"I will be extremely active in this venture and I will not hesitate to state a point of view on the issues that affect the industry," Mr Gore said.
Backers of the company, known as INdTV Holdings LLC, include venture capital firm Blum Capital and Yucaipa Companies, an investor in grocery stores headed by Democratic fundraiser Ron Burkle.
Other individual backers are a list of prominent Hollywood and Silicon Valley figures, including Sun Microsystems co-founder Mr Bill Joy, former Warner Home Video president Warren Lieberfarb and West Wingactor Bradley Whitford.