IT’S
TELEVISION BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT...
ARE YOU READY FOR CURRENT TV?
Current TV, the entertainment channel that has become a U.S
phenomenon, launches in the UK and Ireland this month on the
Sky and
Virgin Media platforms. Current TV is the first television
channel
created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience and uniquely
one
third of the channel’s programming is supplied by the
very audience
who watches it.
The station was founded by Al Gore the former Vice President
of the
United States, and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt. Academy Award
Winner
Gore describes the channel as ‘tv for the internet generation’,
with
programming that ranges from the hottest trends in technology,
fashion, music and celebrity, to pressing issues concerning
politics,
finance and the environment.
Al Gore, Chairman of Current TV, said; “Traditional
television fails
many viewers because it beams programmes at them with little
regard
for their input and no opportunity for interaction. Current
instead
facilitates a conversation with and among our viewers.”
Current TV co-founder Joel Hyatt said; “We involve our
audience in
the heart of our programming – getting them actively
involved in
helping to create the content they consume. Our ambition is
to engage
young people with the media by giving them programming with
a unique
voice – their own.”
The schedule - which is made up of short form, non fiction,
programme
"pods" (averaging three to eight minutes) is dictated
by the viewers
(via the current tv website) who have the power to vote or
“green
light” programmes onto the network.
Every hour Current airs a three-minute Google Current news
item based
on the most popular internet stories of the day. A sample
hour of
the network might also feature music news, cultural updates,
the
topical animation series ‘Super News’ and regular
instalments of the
best, weirdest and wildest travel experiences in the world
via Lonely
Planet’s Blue List.
Current TV’s innovative VC² (Viewer Created Content)
concept promotes
viewer contributions and the network pays these VC² producers
when
their films are shown on the channel. Everything on the network
is
open to viewer participation. Current invented Viewer Created
Ad
Messages (VCAM) and regularly features promotional spots created
by
its viewers.
One of the keys to Current’s success is in the variety
of its
programming. In addition to VC2, viewers of the network will
see
short form Vanguard Journalism pods that are reinventing TV
journalism for a new generation of viewers.
The channel today announces that it has teamed up with The
British
Library to create a unique 12 month video snapshot of the
UK to be
called ‘The Current Diary Of Great Britain’. For
an entire year up to
12 unique British video stories will be voted into a body
of work
that will be preserved by The British Library for future generations
to see. The project is open to anyone from established film
makers,
to members of the public or to people in the public eye such
as
celebrities, politicians or sports stars. The films are entered
into
the collection after a public vote on the Current TV website.
Current’s programming highlights of the first week include
‘Are you
Mr Right?’ - which follows a girl’s journey in
search of love,
‘Tracking William’ which trails one of the UK’s
top paparazzi
photographers, ‘One Night Rock Star’ - tracks
a rock band on tour in
search of a keyboard player, a film about Guerilla Gardening,
‘Bedroom Divas’ a viewer created POD about two
new up and coming
artists and an exclusive film by U2 stars Bono and The Edge.
Current TV has been a huge success story in the U.S.A, where
it is
broadcast in 39 Million homes, more than doubling the number
of
subscribers in its first year. The channel has picked up numerous
programming awards, and recent pods such as Current’s
‘PC Versus Mac’
spoof have topped the global viral charts.
Current TV can be viewed at channel 229 on the Sky EPG and
155 on
Virgin Media.
Visit the Current TV website at www.uk.current.com
Press Contacts: Sal James at Taylor Herring
PR 0208 206 5151
