Al Gore has invented a new kind of TV. Debuting one month ago on August 1st, it consists
of viewer-contributed short videos (30 seconds to 5 minutes).
WHAT’S ON TONIGHT?
“Current is a new, independent cable and satellite TV network, available in 20 million
homes around the United States — and growing.” They are headquartered in San
Francisco and Bay Area TV viewers may watch on Comcast channel 125 or DirecTV
channel 366.
The new channel offers non-fiction about people and our changing culture, the edge, the
new; “journalistic and relevant, but unencumbered by old conventions.... Current is
about what's going on: a look at what's new in culture, style, technology, music and more
...”
“Current TV”
![[play
button]](aw_images/playbttn.gif) http://www.current.tv
[You need Flash 7 to view this web site and
broadband to watch the videos.]
When you visit www.current.tv, you’ll
first see a graphic marquee highlighting what’s playing at the moment on the Current
cable TV channel. To skip to the essence of the site (past the somewhat confusing
organization), click at the bottom right corner on the square labeled Current Studio. From
this (or other screens), click Screening Room at the very top right. No need to click further,
video will automatically start streaming as soon as it’s loaded. (To see the best stuff,
click the down arrow symbol near the top right corner of the page to select ‘highest
rated’.)
VP TV
Though the project is prominently backed by former Vice President Al Gore (he serves as
Chairman), the focus is not political. Gore says “This will not be a Democratic
network or any kind of political network. It will involve real-life stories about the world and
information directly relevant to what’s going on in the lives of people who are 18 to
34.”
Gore’s partner in the venture is Joel Hyatt, founder of Hyatt Legal Services, who
served as finance chair of the Democratic Party during Gore’s run for president.
VIEWER-CREATED CONTENT
Most significantly, Current TV is an experiment in “viewer-created content,”
cutely abbreviated VC2. They want to loosen traditional control of TV
journalism and place it squarely in the hands of the technically capable public. “This
is not a traditional TV network; watching Current, you'll see more, on more topics, from
more points of view.”
The www.current.tv web site serves as a
mechanism to gather short video from the public to show on the Current cable TV channel.
Anyone with the technical know-how to create and upload a video can submit work. Though
the site is completely in English, the scope is international.
MEDIA DEMOCRACY
The second function of this site, besides video acquisition, is evaluation. Visitors to the site
can view the uploaded videos — and vote on them. This feedback is used to choose the
videos that show on the cable TV channel.
FOCUS
Though advertiser-supported, Current TV seems to have pro-social motives, highlighting role
models and social diversity. The categories used to solicit video submissions emphasize
people, culture, modern life, and news. Also included are style, heroes, humor, nightlife,
consumer finance, wisdom, parenting, opinions, technology, and travel. And they want the
unconventional side, too — about work, people, music, and worship. They encourage
documentary shorts, and even animation.
YOUTH ORIENTED
Current TV also emphasizes youth, focusing on the valuable 18 to 34 demographic of Gen X
and Gen Y. Much of the content explores societal change and youth subculture, with
categories covering style, activism, nightlife, music, ‘mavericks’,
‘party’, and parenting. A section called Current Journalism asks for video
commentary on mainstream news, with categories named Issues, Lies, and Undercurrent.
One example of the focus on the iPod generation is the invention of a new term,
‘pod’. “Pods are the pieces of video, usually just a few minutes long, at
the heart of Current. They can cover anything that’s cool, interesting, or noteworthy.
Guess who makes them? You.”
TECHNOLOGY GAMBLE
Current.TV has excluded some viewers by adopting the latest technology. Users dialing in at
56K will be disappointed; a high speed Internet connection is needed to watch the videos.
Secondly, Flash is required and no part of the site is viewable without it. Many other web
sites use Flash for special effects, but their body of text is viewable even without it.
There’s no point in visiting Current.TV unless you have Macromedia Flash Player 7
installed or are willing to download it (it’s free). Clearly this excludes a portion of
their potential audience, though it does offer improved control over the display of graphic
images and attractive, seamless embedding of the video screen.
IMPACT
In a boon to the developing digital video industry, Current.TV pays. Contributors earn $250
for a video that gets enough ‘green light’ votes to be selected for the cable TV
channel. The fee goes up with repeat contributions, maxing at $1,000.
Statistics on the web site measure their success to date:
301 uploads and 12,300 online viewers and contributors.
This innovation is a dramatic experiment in media democracy, enabled by the global reach
and 2-way communication of the Internet. Given the egalitarian and international scope of
Current TV, it will be interesting to see how this effects the future content of TV and web
video.
To quote the New York Times, “For all its rough spots and blog pretensions, Current
is for-profit public-access television, an attempt to add grass-roots diversity to a television
universe that is ever more controlled by a few media conglomerates.” (Betting a
Network on
Youths Who Think, http://current.tv/news/nytimes082205.html)
Too many webcasts, not enough time.
If you see streaming audio or video you
think would be of interest to our readers, please
URL and description.
Has your firm produced a webcast? We want the details!
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