Much of the talk around Al Gore's new Current TV network has been broadly
philosophical, like the former vice president's statement that "we want to
be the television home page for the Internet generation." With its debut
Monday, Current TV will be judged by the same mundane standards as other
networks on whether its programming can hold a viewer's interest.
Gore and his fellow investors envision Current as a sounding board for young
people, a step beyond traditional notions of interactivity. They want viewers to
contribute much of the network's content now that quality video equipment is
widely available.
Based on material previewed on its Web site, Current at first glance seems
like a hipper, more irreverent version of traditional television newsmagazines.
Most of its programming will be in "pods," roughly two to seven
minutes long, covering topics like jobs, technology, spirituality and current
events. An Internet-like on-screen progress bar will show the pod's length.
Its short films include a profile of a hang glider and a piece on working in
a fish market. One contributor talked about what it was like to have his phone
number on a hacked Internet list of Paris Hilton's cell phone contacts, saying
that dealing with curiosity seekers was like "hosting your own radio
call-in show."
Every half-hour, Current promises a news update using data from Google on news
stories most frequently searched for on the Web.
"We have no illusions about the fact that our product has to be
compelling," said David Neuman, Current's programming director. "We
also believe it has to be unique. Who wants to watch the seventh clone of a
different network?"
Despite suspicions created by his former profession, Gore promises the
network won't be advancing a political point of view.
"I think the reality of the network will speak for itself," he told
reporters in Los Angeles two weeks ago. "It's not intended to be partisan
in any way and not intended to be ideological."
Gore's name may help attract the curious, at least initially.
"People may not have heard of Current TV, but they will have heard that
Al Gore has a television station," said J.D. Lasica, co-founder of
Ourmedia.org and an expert on digital media.
Gore's team bought the former Newsworld International channel to ensure it
has at least some initial distribution. About 20 million homes (out of about 110
million nationally) will get Current TV right away. Success depends on more than
doubling that within a couple of years, said analyst Mark Mackenzie of Sanford
Bernstein.
To do that, Current must successfully straddle the rapidly changing worlds of
television and the Web.
"Current TV is important not for what it is today as for what it heralds
tomorrow," Lasica said. "What is important about Current TV is that
it's opening up the world a crack to Internet television becoming
mainstream."
Current's relationships with cutting-edge content providers haven't been
completely smooth.
The initial enthusiasm that Josh Wolf, a 23-year-old filmmaker from San
Francisco, felt for Current has cooled. Last year Current said it was going to
hire 200 video journalists and give them low-cost equipment. Some 2,000 people
applied, but Current abandoned the plan, causing some bad blood, he said.
Neuman said Gore decided the approach wasn't democratic enough; if he truly
wanted to open Current up to everyone, it didn't make sense to create an elite
200.
Current is also requiring its filmmakers to sign an agreement giving the
network three months' exclusive use of material it has accepted for air. Leaders
of the rapidly growing video blogging community have resisted, Wolf said. Those
filmmakers most likely to fill Current's stable of independent contributors
don't want to be told they can't use their best material on their own Web sites.
The network, which had initially sought six months' exclusivity but softened
after the complaints surfaced, is trying to balance satisfying these potential
contributors while being able to give viewers something they can't see anywhere
else, Neuman said.
"We can't apologize for doing what we need to do to get this business
off the ground," he said.
Only about 25 percent of Current's initial material is truly
audience-generated; the rest has been done by staff members or solicited from
professionals. That's disappointingly small to some people who bought into
Current's utopian visions; Neuman said he expects more amateur contributions
once the network is established.
Wolf remains interested in what Current is doing. It won't be his television
home page, however just one button he programs on his remote.
"I have this sense that Current is not really looking for content that
does not go in line with what their advertisers and investors are interested in
seeing," he said. "It's still television that you can zone off
to."
Because America Online's widely praised coverage of the Live 8 concerts less
than a month ago proved a landmark in the acceptance of Internet television,
Current runs one risk it could not have anticipated: potentially becoming
obsolete just as it's starting. Unlike television, the Internet allows consumers
to hunt specifically for material it wants to see, and skip through it at their
leisure, Mackenzie said.
But Lasica said lying on a couch still beats sitting at a desktop.
"Most people still want to watch television in the living room or the
family room," he said, "and that's where Current TV has an advantage
over any of the Internet startups."
Years of planning, of anticipating what its target audience wants, is now
about to be tested on millions of screens. Current is set up to reflect how its
operators believe young viewers experience TV, in short bursts with an eye
always on what's next.
"We're not relying on what we think is cool or interesting or
happening," Neuman said. "We're holding up a mirror to our audience.
That, to me, is our insurance policy."
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On the Net:
http://current.tv
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EDITOR'S NOTE David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org
