Al Gore Launches Current TV

Posted on August 2, 2005

Reuters reports that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has launched the Current TV network he founded. Current TV targets the 18-34 age group with short video content known as "pods." Current already reaches 20 million cable subscribers in the U.S. Al Gore says that today's youth want personalized media and they want to be in control of the media.

"If you ever thought, 'TV really sucks ... or I could make a better show than that,' then you came to the right place," on-air host Shauntay Hinton told viewers.
At a gathering of television critics last month, the 57-year-old Gore said Current was "inviting this new generation empowered by digital tools -- of small and good cameras and laptop editing systems -- to actually make television."
"This generation wants to be in control of its media," said Gore, who served as President Bill Clinton's vice president from 1993 to 2001. "They want personalized media."
Further emphasizing viewer control over its programming, Current regulates how often it repeats individual pieces on the air according to audience feedback, as registered on the network's Web site (www.current.tv)

Current.tv also has a blog located here. The blog is written by Robin Sloan, who works on Current's web team.