Current Flows Forward
December 19, 2005
Gore's Net Hopes to Win Viewers By Involving Them
By Megan Larson
Smirks were evident when former Vice President Al Gore stood in front of a small crowd at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association conference in 2004 and announced he was launching a news network that would target viewers 18-34. Those smirks morphed into raised eyebrows this year when he and business partner, entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, said they would program their new channel, Current, with viewer-produced content.
Current is still a work in progress, but it has progressed further than most observers had expected at its birth. The network, which launched Aug. 1, is in 20 million homes on DirecTV and Time Warner systems and has attracted major advertisers, including Sony Electronics, Toyota and Xbox. It also appears to have a never-ending supply of new, low-cost content from both viewers as well as its own edit staff. “It’s an intriguing property because it is a new media model,” said Ed Gentner, senior vp, group director, national broadcast for MediaVest Worldwide.
Current’s president of programming David Neuman described the content as “lifestyle and information,” but almost anything can go under that banner as long as it is compelling. “I quote [talk radio host] Tom Leykis who invites people to call in to his show to talk about anything as long it is absolutely fascinating,” said Neuman. “It has to be. Our audience won’t stand for being bored.”
To understand Current, one has to watch its eclectic—if occasionally schizophrenic—palette that includes reports ranging from the recent Paris riots and Skid Row heroin addicts to a bawdy piece on the dating habits of twentysomething women. “Our concept is ‘what’s going on for young adults,’ and what’s going on is as broad as our audience defines it,” said Neuman. “It’s their careers, their relationships, their spiritual lives [told] in their voice and from their point of view.”
Gore and Hyatt purchased a small cable network, Newsworld International, from Vivendi Universal with the goal of creating a network through which young people could exchange and contribute views on current events and other issues they find important. To accomplish this, they’ve invited viewers to submit their own short-form documentaries and established a forum for the audience to “greenlight” what stories should get airplay. “It was our intention to get young people engaged in the whole innovation of the channel by allowing them in on the creation of its programming,” said Hyatt.
Stories run from two to 12 minutes in length and run in 58 thematic pods, including Current Tech, Current Playlist, Current Controversy and even Current Parent. The net feels like a hybrid of a TV newsmagazine and a blog, a model some media observers believe might encourage young people to pay more attention to current events. “I think it has great potential,” said Judy Muller, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication. “The way to get people involved is to involve them—literally.”
Current did just that during its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Instead of sending a staff reporter to New Orleans, Current used the videotape of two young Louisiana natives as they searched for family members and helped their neighbors. “We had a young Louisianan on a flat-bottom boat, rescuing people, and we went on that journey with him,” explained Hyatt. “It was compelling; it was real.”
There is an intimacy and authenticity to the reporting that is not often seen on TV, but it is sometimes accompanied by the shaky camera work of novice documentarians. “I like the idea of bringing in viewers to participate, but I question whether they can keep going in that direction when some of the stuff is of questionable production quality,” noted Aaron Cohen, executive vp, director of broadcast, Horizon Media. Others see it in a different light. “As far as the audience is concerned, it might be seen as a positive,” said MediaVest’s Gentner. “It might seem more authentic, less formulaic.”
Overall, advertisers have responded favorably to Current, said Anne Zehren, president of sales and marketing: “Every couple of weeks we pick up a new advertiser.” To further differentiate Current from other news media, Zehren’s team offers advertisers what she calls solutions to today’s changing media landscape where commercials can be skipped, or ignored entirely, with a push of a button.
For starters, Current sells sponsorships of the themed pods in which an advertiser’s logo is integrated into the graphics. Also, Current sells isolated commercial spots that air after a pod and can vary in length from eight seconds to 60. There are also long-form ad breaks that air every hour and can run up to three minutes. And next year Current will introduce viewer-created ads.
Mike Fasulo, chief marketing officer for Sony Electronics, a division of Sony Corp., says he is talking to Zehren about a viewer-created spot for his brands. Right now, his music and digital photography brands are sponsors of the Current Video and Current Releases pods. Sony also sponsors the VC2 Survival Guide, an online tutorial that instructs aspiring videographers how to make a documentary.
Although Fasulo admits he was reticent at first, he now sees Current as an opportunity to reach elusive young audiences and interact with them. “Current wants to educate and interact with the viewer, and that is what we are all about,” he said.
While Gentner thinks viewers are conditioned to traditional TV formats and know to change the channel every 13 minutes when commercials come on, they might watch advertising on Current because it comes in varying lengths at unpredictable intervals. “There is a different mind-set they might be in if they are not watching traditional TV,” Gentner said.
Current is still very small with only 20 million subscribers and isn’t rated by Nielsen Media Research, which makes it difficult for advertisers to gauge its performance. Current execs are hard at work on distribution, but it is very difficult for an independent network to get picked up. “I would love to see them succeed because we need more of this. But will the marketplace allow them to grow and become a viable option?” wondered Gentner.
Even as it grows, Current faces challenges with some of its content. Take the report on Skid Row addicts. It’s pretty graphic. A lot of advertisers will stay away from content like that. Although some advertisers will be absent, Current will not want for programming. As awareness builds, execs are finding potential contributors everywhere. The network is partnering with film and journalism schools at major universities, and executives are trolling for content at film festivals.
Looking into Current’s future, Neuman said he thinks more than 50 percent of the network’s programming will come from viewers.
Hyatt also said he’s in the midst of several broadband deals that will likely distribute Current to cell phones, PSPs and iPods. “I believe Current five years from now will be a global company supplying viewer-created content on multiple platforms,” Hyatt said. “In fact, it will happen before then.”
It’s a bold statement, but, so far, no one is smirking.
Source: Media Week
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001699895