Current TV just announced that one of its co-founders, former Vice President Al Gore, will lead Current TV’s coverage of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

Gore will be joined by former Michigan Governor and “The War Room” host, Jennifer Granholm, former New York Governor and “Viewpoint” host, Eliot Spitzer and “The Young Turks” host, Cenk Uygur. California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom will join the panel for the RNC coverage.

Also, David Shuster and Michael Shure will report from both conventions and new Current TV hosts Joy Behar and John Fugelsang will contribute.

“I’m pleased to be participating in Current TV’s impressive line-up throughout the Republican and Democratic National Conventions,” said Gore. “Cenk, Jennifer and Eliot provide the keen insight and spot-on analysis our viewers have come to expect. I have no doubt that our coverage will be innovative and informative, and I look forward to working with them.”

Keith Olbermann‘s available, why didn’t they just…. oh right.

CNN was down double digits across the board in July. Compared to July 2011, the network is -20% in Total Viewers and -23% in A25-54 in Total Day. In primetime, CNN is down -23% in Total Viewers and -26% in the demographic.

The ratings for July 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 488,000 Total Viewers / 149,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 355,000 Total Viewers / 109,000 A25-54

Compared to the July 2011, Erin Burnett‘s 7pm hour — home last year to “John King USA” — is down -21% in both Total Viewers and younger viewers. “Piers Morgan Tonight” is down -18% in Total Viewers and -24% in A25-54 viewers. The 10pm edition of “Anderson Cooper 360″ is down -34% in Total Viewers and -36% in A25-54 viewers.

There is some good news for CNN in the 8pm hour of “AC360,” which is up +6% in the demographic and is the only cable news program in primetime to increase among younger viewers year-over-year.

Compared to last month, all of CNN’s daytime and primetime programs are up by double digits in both Total Viewers and A25-54 viewers. Burnett is up +12% in Total Viewers and +15% in the demographic, Cooper is up +27% in Total Viewers and +31% in the demographic, and Morgan is up +18% and +20%, respectively.

Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is adding yet another TV gig to his plate. Spitzer, who hosts the 8 PM program “Viewpoint” on Current TV, will become a regular panelist on NY1′s “Inside City Hall,” as part of the “Wise Guys.”

NY1 is a local cable news channel in New York City, owned by Time Warner Cable. The other “Wise Guys” are former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, and Senator Alfonse D’Amato.

Spitzer of course is the former co-host of “Parker Spitzer” and “In The Arena” on CNN. Neither program worked out, though clearly that has not stopped the former Governor from trying to make a public comeback via the media. “Inside City Hall” may not have the reach of CNN or even Current TV, but it carries clout among those in New York’s inner political circles.

CNN continued to struggle during the second quarter of 2012. The network had its lowest-rated quarter in 21 years (since 1991) in primetime, and in 11 years (since 2001) in Total Day.

The ratings for Q2 2012:

• Primetime (Mon-Sun): 446,000 Total Viewers / 129,000 A25-54
• Total Day (Mon-Sun): 319,000 Total Viewers / 95,000 A25-54

In Total Day, the network is down -35% in Total Viewers and -45% in the A25-54 demo. In primetime, CNN is down -35% in Total Viewers and -41% in the demographic. It is worth noting that Q2 2011 had several notable news events that boosted cable news ratings, including the death of Osama Bin Laden and the Royal Wedding.

“Erin Burnett OutFront” is down -33% in Total Viewers and -45% in the demo since last year, when John King was the 7pmET anchor. “Anderson Cooper 360″ at 8pmET is down -19% in Total Viewers and -23% in the demo compared to last year, when “In the Arena with Eliot Spitzer” aired in the timeslot. “Piers Morgan Tonight” is down -29% and -33%, respectively.

There is some good news for CNN in the form of monthly ratings. Compared to May 2012, which marked a 20-year ratings low for the network, CNN has grown +8% in Total Day and +6% in M-F primetime in June. Individual primetime programs have grown among younger viewers: Burnett’s program is up +24%, while Cooper’s is up +5% and Morgan is up +9% for the month.

Current TV has tapped “The View” panelist, former HLN host and comedienne Joy Behar to host a new nightly program. The new show has a familiar working title (“The Joy Behar Show”) and will air at 6 PM on weekdays beginning in September. It will also be replayed later in the evening.

The format will be familiar to anyone who watched Behar’s HLN show, though there will be a twist. In addition to commentary by Behar and newsmaker interviews, the show will feature a rotating panel of satirists and political commentators, who will riff on the day’s news.

Behar will make her Current TV debut next week, when she fills in for 8 PM host Eliot Spitzer.

“Joy Behar is a beloved veteran television personality with her finger on the pulse of what viewers care about,” said Current TV Chairman and former Vice President Al Gore in a statement. “Millions of Americans tune in daily to hear her take on the issues along with her inimitable style. We are honored that Current TV will be Joy’s new primetime home.”

HLN canceled Behar’s show last November, replacing it with a rerun of “Nancy Grace.”

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Mediabistro’s Diane Clehane lunched with CurrentTV host and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer at Michael’s yesterday. Spitzer opened up about his past with CNN and his present with Current.

About a year ago, CNN boss Ken Jautz cancelled In The Arena in a shakeup of the network’s primetime lineup. “I’m very happy with the show we did and the ratings we got, which were good to compared to what they’re getting now,” Eliot told me. Not surprisingly, he says he prefers and is better suited for Current TV’s politically charged environment. “Current has an ideology. There’s no pretense; we’re open about it. CNN tries very hard to position itself as an non-ideological news network, but there’s no objectivity in network news. It would be better for all of us if we just accepted that.” Therein lies the major issue with his former employer’s rating woes, says Eliot: ”CNN has a serious question of what it is and they’ve got to answer that.”

Charlie Gasparino began his news career as a print journalist. Now a senior correspondent at Fox Business Network, Gasparino tells New York Resident about how he transitioned from one to the other — and what he really thought about television before he made the switch:

While I was [at the Wall Street Journal] they had a deal with CNBC where they would use the talent on air. I never did it; I thought it was bullshit. I thought TV was marginalizing news.

Then I was breaking all of these stories on Eliot Spitzer; I was the first guy to do in-depth pieces on the guy. I gave him his first big case – the Henry Blodget case came from my reporting. The Wall Street Journal was unimpressed with the Spitzer stuff at first and they wouldn’t put my work on page one … But the wires loved the stories, and CNBC wanted me on, so I just started pitching it to them. They would have me on to talk about Spitzer, and I started to do much more of that. I then broke the story on Martha Stewart’s insider trading and that was TV heaven.

Reuters’ Peter Lauria reports that Current TV could be pulled from Time Warner Cable is certain ratings benchmarks are not met.

If Current TV misses the audience benchmark in two consecutive quarters, another clause is triggered that would allow Time Warner Cable to drop the channel. The condition was built into the most recent distribution pact between the two parties, which was signed in 2010.

“Time Warner Cable has been flirting with the idea of pulling Current off its systems for some time now,” said one of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.

Of course, Time Warner can’t just “flirt” with pulling Current, as Current would have to fail to meet ratings benchmarks for two straight quarters, and that wouldn’t trigger any sort of automatic drop. In other words, even if Current failed to meet the minimum benchmarks in this current quarter, it wouldn’t be pulled from TWC systems anytime soon.

A spokesperson for Current said that the channel was not at risk of being dropped by any carrier;

“We do not discuss the terms of our distribution agreements because they are confidential.  We are in compliance with all our distribution agreements. And all our agreements are long-term agreements with 2 to 5 years remaining on their terms.  We are not at any risk of losing any of our distribution agreements.”

So what are Current’s ratings? While it is too soon to determine how Eliot Spitzer is doing at 8 PM, we can look at the network’s other programs.

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The unexpected debut of “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer” drew a disappointing 47,000 Total Viewers and 10,000 A25-54 viewers to Current TV on Friday night.

Spitzer’s debut ratings mark a drop from “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” which averaged 152,000 Total Viewers and 42,000 A25-54 viewers for the month of March.

The 8pmET timeslot on Friday evening included CNN’s town-hall special “Beyond Trayvon: Race and Justice in America,” which placed second in the A25-54 demographic and third, behind MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” in Total Viewers. Bill O’Reilly‘s Fox News program was first in both ratings measurements.

Current TV launched its new 8 PM program “Viewpoint” last night, hosted by former New York Governor and CNN host Eliot Spitzer. The show launched suddenly and without promotion in the wake of Current’s decision to terminate its relationship with Keith Olbermann.

Spitzer opened the program by explaining the goal of the show, but did not mention the elephant in the room.

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