Current targets 18-34 crowd
July 19, 2005
A new cable channel headed by former Vice President Al Gore hopes to draw in adults 18-34 who aren't finding the content they want on traditional TV.
Current will launch Aug. 1 in 20 million cable and satellite households nationwide in place of Newsworld International. The network hopes to strike a chord among twentysomethings who are looking for news, information and features produced by young adults for young adults. About 25% of the content will be produced by viewers, much of it submitted over the Internet using new, cheaper video and editing technology; all of it will be in short three- to seven-minute "pods" of content on topics including youth culture in Iran, parenting and spirituality.
"We want to be the television home page for the Internet generation," said Gore, who along with other members of the San Francisco-based channel made a presentation Monday afternoon at the Television Critics Assn. summer press tour at the Beverly Hilton. Gore is Current TV's chairman of the board.
What Gore and his staff of mostly twentysomethings are trying is an innovative blend of content and advertising that will merge high- and low-tech video along with advertiser-sponsored spots and three minutes of longform advertisements every hour. It wants to have a heavy Internet component, allowing viewers to vote on what they want to see on the channel as well as serve as a two-way conduit between viewers and programmers. It's not a news network, though there is a collaboration with the search engine Google that provides reports every half hour on what Google users are looking for in popular culture and the issues of the day.
"At its core, Current TV will be a place where 18- to 34-year-olds can tune in to see what's going on in their world," said Laura Ling, who will appear on air and manage enterprise video journalism for Current. Ling has been a producer for Channel One News and has worked for ABC's "Nightline," PBS and NBC.
While early stories about the channel highlighted Gore's role in the network, the former presidential candidate said there's no political tilt to Current.
"I think the reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan in any way, not ideological in any way," Gore said.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000981045