In a major restructuring, cable channel Current TV -- co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore -- has laid off 80 staff members, about 25% of its staff.
Most of the axed were based in the Los Angeles office, affecting in-house production and striking a yet another blow to the city's already suffering entertainment industry. The original programs Current Tonight, Current Takeover and Current Exposed have been canceled and David Neumann, the head of programming was fired. About 300 employees total remain in San Francisco, New York, the now much smaller LA office and the international offices in London and Milan.
The pioneering, Emmy-Award winning channel was originally conceived by Gore and businessman Joe Hyatt as a peer-to-peer news and information network with one-third of the on-air broadcast featuring viewer created content (VC2) and geared to 18-34-years-olds. During the 2004 campaign, Gore envisioned a news network with no political leanings
that would help change the tide of "consolidation and conglomeratization" of the media by leading the change to "democratization."
Now that videophones and Flip cameras are in almost everyone's pocket, most local news channels-as well as the cable news networks-allow viewers to email or upload raw footage and short reports. The tide of consolidation hasn't turned, but with YouTube and Vimeo, democratization has happened. If it exists, if it happened, or if you think it's a conspiracy, it's been videotaped.
Current TV's new CEO Mark Rosenthal, who replaced Hyatt, is now revamping Current to a more traditional model of 30-minute and hour-long programs, much of it to be acquired, reports Variety.
Current said it will now move money into creating departments focused on program development, licensing and acquisitions, talent management, research, marketing, affiliate relations and advertising sales. In other words, start operating like a more traditional network.
Short-form videos will continue to be a part of the network's lineup, but now as part of regularly scheduled programs.
Rosenthal, the man behind the upheaval, is the former COO and president of MTV, which made the same sort of changes in the mid-1990s, shifting from music videos to longer-form programming. The logic is that original, longer form programming attracts more advertising dollars. Current TV is available in over 59 million homes in the US, UK, Ireland and Italy thanks to cable and satellite.
No word yet on the changes from Current Media chairman Al Gore, but Current.com, the channel's internt portal reports that Current Media's COO, Joanna Drake Earl said that this year is set to be Current's most profitable year since its launch.
No wonder: A year ago to the day, Current fired 60 employees as a cost cutting measureIn a major restructuring, cable channel Current TV -- co-founded by former Vice... more
11/14/2009 Mike Shanklin Reports From The Anti-Healthcare, Freedomworks Rally in Raleigh, NC. As you can tell, not many libertarians were in attendance, but to those of you I met today who were, thank you for defending REAL Liberty!
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/14/2009 Mike Shanklin Reports From The Anti-Healthcare, Freedomworks Rally in... more
Current has announced it's restructure to become more like every other cable channel with a 30 and 60 minute format instead of the short Current staff created and user created content that made Current stand out from the crowd and gave them a banner year. Duh.
Don't like the new Current? Come on over to Under Current (aka Current-B). This is an experiment. I'll share the admin. If you come then OK. If not. That's OK too. But it's there if you want it, when you want, now or later.
This is a Current.com alternative with the premise that it is by and for the people, not the corporations.
If you've seen Michael Moore's film, Capitalism: A Love Story, you're aware of alternatives to the dictatorial corporate management structure. Companies can be run with all workers having equal stake and control. I'm not saying we can run a website like this with everyone as admin. But I think we can share the admin duties to a few good people with the same ethics that the net and the media should be by and for the people.
Join me and add your profile, add your posts as new forum topics or blogs. Create groups. Upload film and pictures or just put the embed code into your form or blogs. Think of it as an alternative where you can post stuff you might not get away with on Current. Kind of like the public option to keep Current honest.
If it works, if enough people join, it could grow into something great. If for no other reason, just do it to give Current the message that the new format is not appreciated. People have the power when they have the balls to use it.
Former Current staffer, Charles Lawrence, discusses his experience at Current, their lack of professionalism and how another laid off staffer jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge:
"Let me tell you something about CurrentTV. I worked there for 3 months in late 2007. I was on the upstairs online team(we were maintaining the old website while the guys on the Embarcadero team in the basement were working on the new one). I came in to work on Sept 14 and was there for about half an hour when I was led into Al Gore’s office(he wasn’t there) and was let go. They offered no explanation and refused to tell me why I was being laid off. My experiences working there were good at the time, but I got the overall sense the company didn’t have any direction. The worst part of being laid off wasn’t the fact that they treated me INCREDIBLY unprofessionally, it was that they laid off several other people the same day in much the same manner. One of the guys that was on my team was in QA. A couple of days after they fired him (again, without giving cause), he jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge to his death."
Update: Another comment from Dave, also apparently a Current staffer:
"As I read my severance agreement, I realized that Current is not mentioning an important bit of information. Their actions have triggered the WARN Act. Moreover, when Current says that they’ve laid off 80 employees, they’re not mentioning that they plan to lay off, at least, 20 more. One of the factors that triggers the WARN Act is when a company lays off a third of its workforce. Current had about 300 US employees before today’s layoffs, so letting go of 80 employees does not set off WARN. Letting go of 100 would.
Why do I think that Current’s workforce reduction falls under WARN? Because in addition to a promised severance payment, I continue on Current’s payroll for 60 days with benefits – even though I have no obligation to perform work. What Current is doing is getting around the 60 day notification provision under WARN by continuing pay and benefits for laid off workers. In addition, my Termination Agreement states that I would release the company from any claims that it has violated the WARN act.
While Current deflects questions about more lay offs in the coming months, they’re actions cannot hide the fact that they plan to, at least, have a total of 100 employees gone by the next few months."
Current's new (old) strategy is to regress to standard 30 and 60 minute TV programming to get away from user created content, the one thing many Current users like about the website and channel. Interestingly they claim the move is not financially motivated. Yet they also claim the move is meant to attract traditional advertisers who shy away from user generated content. Sounds like a load of crap.
This is typical management behavior from what I've seen in business. Mangers seem to continually have to shake things up to justify their existence. The management mantra: If it ain't broke, fix it anyway. It looks good on the performance review.
I also heard that Laura and Euna are being let go.
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The recent string of layoffs have me wondering what exactly is the master plan here, and how will that plan affect the future of Current Media. Was this just another necessary cost cutting strategy to weather the economic storm? Or is Current slowly changing into a corporate machine. How much can be cut before the river goes dry?
There needs to be more Current, not less.
I wish the best to all the talented, creative, and now jobless ex-staffers. We will notice your absence.The recent string of layoffs have me wondering what exactly is the master plan here,... more
Don't miss the new season of SuperNews! premiering to night. Plus, check out the rest of The Thursday Night Block Party with new episodes of infoMania and The Rotten Tomatoes Show.
it hasn't worked so well to mesh the short-video-clip culture of the Web with traditional cable news: Current Media, the edgy cable company co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, announced Wednesday it has laid off 80 employees in conjunction with a programming shakeup.
According to a release from the company, this shift involves canceling a number of programs, including "Current Tonight," "Current Takeover" and "Current Exposed." Most of the layoffs are in conjunction with those programs.
Additionally, per Wednesday's release: "Current will be shifting away from short-form programming and daily in-house production and towards proven 30-60 minute formats from a multitude of sources, including acquisitions, co-productions, outside studios, as well as Current developed and produced content." So it sounds like there will be a significant amount of new focus on outsourced material rather than more expensive in-house production--and perhaps less of an attempt to compete with well-established, live cable news networks.
Exactly one year ago, Current--headquartered in San Francisco but with many of its production operations in Los Angeles--laid off about 60 people but said that it was also creating about 30 new positions, which left its head count around 410 employees. Current chief operating officer Joanna Drake Earl told CNET News that this year's cuts leave its employee numbers at around 300.
The release said that the cuts were "not the result of a need to cut costs" and that the company would be hiring in areas like talent management, licensing, marketing, and ad sales. It'll also be consolidating its two L.A. facilities into a single new one.
"We've been an extremely innovative company doing lots and lots of different things," Earl said, "but (we've had to ask) what are we doing for our audience, and what shouldn't we be doing."
The company had filed for a $100 million IPO about two years ago but then retracted it amid concerns about the economy. It's repeatedly had to deflect rumors about its viability, like a report early this year that it would be closing its San Francisco headquarters to focus on L.A.
I luv CURRENT SORRY FOR THE BAD NEWSit hasn't worked so well to mesh the short-video-clip culture of the Web with... more
Maybe it hasn't worked so well to mesh the short-video-clip culture of the Web with traditional cable news: Current Media, the edgy cable company co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, announced Wednesday it has laid off 80 employees in conjunction with a programming shakeup.
9/17/2009 Fox Business Peter Schiff discusses Gold prices and the inflationary pressures that are created by cheap, loose, easy credit by the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***9/17/2009 Fox Business Peter Schiff discusses Gold prices and the inflationary... more
11/9/2009 Ron Paul’s Weekly Update on Healthcare, Congress, Government, and the Constitution.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/9/2009 Ron Paul’s Weekly Update on Healthcare, Congress, Government, and the... more
11/6/2009 The father/son duo explain why minimal government is the only sane option while expressing the unfair laws limiting outside 3rd parties access to the ballot.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/6/2009 The father/son duo explain why minimal government is the only sane option... more
..an urban instinct from san francisco to naples from the 50s to the present days that looks the same. published at www.pixelpress.org/afterphotography last thursday, september 24, become an italian news a recall of the past within gomorra land just a week ago.
Life Online
Thursday, September 24, 2009 http://www.pixelpress.org/afterphotography/ to see how the life (and the journalism practice) copy always itself ....an urban instinct from san francisco to naples from the 50s to the present days that... more
11/5/2009 Mike Easley will most likely avoid paying his criminal fines by diverting the crime to his campaign committee that has since gone broke. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were funneled to lawyers and law firms around North Carolina.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/5/2009 Mike Easley will most likely avoid paying his criminal fines by diverting... more
Europe is facing a population crisis because of attacks on religion by secular writers, Britain's chief rabbi says.
Lord Sacks blamed Europe's falling birth rate on a culture of "consumerism and instant gratification".
He said the continent was "dying" and accused its citizens of not being prepared for parenthood's "sacrifices".
***
The interesting thing to note here, I believe, is the idea of our generally secular mindset and whether it does really lead to a desire for "consumerism and instant gratification".
Are we becoming too selfish to have families?Europe is facing a population crisis because of attacks on religion by secular... more
www.ktradionetwork.com
We the people are standing up for ourselves, it becomes necessary every now and then for the citizens of this great nation to "defend itself" evidently. Sooner or later "they'll" get the message one way or another........www.ktradionetwork.com
We the people are standing up for ourselves, it becomes... more
11/3/2009 North Carolina Libertarian Senate Candidate Dr Mike Beitler spoke to Campbell University students Tuesday about the Principles and Philosophy of Liberty. This event was co-sponsored by the Lundy Chair & The Liberty Club, introductions by Lundy Chair Dr. Derek Yonai and President of the Liberty Club Michael (Mike) Shanklin.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/3/2009 North Carolina Libertarian Senate Candidate Dr Mike Beitler spoke to... more
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