Al Jazeera America has found a primetime host.
The CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi will join Al Jazeera America to develop a half-hour show, the network announced Thursday.
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“I’m thrilled to be joining Al Jazeera America, an organization that puts quality, fact-based journalism first,” said Velshi in a release. “It’s a tremendous opportunity and I look forward to taking advantage of the extraordinary U.S. news-gathering capabilities the channel is building and working with such a diverse and talented group of colleagues to tell compelling stories that matter to Americans."
The channel stated that it hopes that Velshi's show will start as weekly but become a daily program by the end of the year. Velshi anchored Your Money on CNN, World Business Today on CNN International and has been with the network since 2001.
"Al Jazeera America will be bringing respected, independent reporting to its viewers and that’s exactly the type of coverage Ali Velshi is known for," said Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director of Al Jazeera international operations, in the release.
Al Jazeera purchased Current TV in January to create an English-language channel that will be headquartered in New York.
