Al-Jazeera has some good ones too, and they often make specials that really dig into an issue and provide both sides of the issue as well as the context in which the whole thing is happening. I've been really impressed with their coverage in general.

But, and this is pretty annoying, a lot of the documentaries and stories that they play are not new and used to be available, along with a live stream of the channel, on their website. There's nothing wrong with recycling the content; that stuff takes awhile to make and demanding new editions every day is a big part of what made the 24-hour news cycle into what it is today. But now that I've cut the cord I do miss their coverage.

Anyways, AJ is a solid news channel so I wouldn't be too too upset about the acquisition.

If you look up the primary figures involved in the shows you like, you can usually find what they're working on now. I hope that most of their independent documentary producers will just shift to different distribution platforms.

CurrentTV always struck me as the last innovative cable network in a decade when cable TV was already dead. ZDTV/TechTV/G4 before them showed that niche technical content couldn't work on cable, while it flourishes online.