So, there's a reason why today's CMU Daily is a bit late. You know, when Al Gore invites you over for pastries, you can't really say no, can you? So I didn't. Which is why my bits of the Daily were submitted so late. Al Gore was throwing a breakfast press conference to announce the UK launch of his radical new TV venture Current TV, which goes live on Sky and Virgin Media today (yes, Sky and Virgin Media representatives were in the same room, and no fist fight ensued, not even one pastry was thrown).
Current TV is the Gore backed venture which aims to give young film makers and broadcast journalists a platform to distribute their work - a bit like YouTube except there is some editorial control as to what goes on air, and it's a proper TV station rather than a web based platform. About a third of the network's programmes come directly from viewers, while the rest come from a network of alternative filmmakers around the world. Some programming appears as part of ongoing strands, including a music strand, while others are stand alone shows (or 'pods' as they like to call them) that are randomly placed into the schedule. Each show lasts just a few minutes, on the basis that viewers in the 18-35 generation haven't got the concentration span required to watch traditional fuller, erm, thingys... what was I talking about? Can't remember. Anyway, the shows are short and randomly distributed and stuff. Good for people with poor... whatnots.
Viewers are invited to submit potential 'pods' through various routes. A stack of resources are provided via the network's website to help those filmmakers make their programmes as cool looking as possible (including a library of copyright cleared music) and additional support will be offered by the Current TV's full time team to get the pods ready to air. Pods are then initially posted online where viewers can vote for which ones should go properly to air. The network then licences the content from the people who created it to them, paying them a fee for airing their content.
Leading the launch Gore said Current TV, which has been live in the US for 18 months, was "democratising TV", making the television medium, the most popular medium with consumers, more accessible to independent content generators who can now, thanks to revolutions in digital film making technology, make their own shows but who still suffer from being refused access to the TV audience because of the relatively small number of gate keepers who control that access - ie the traditional TV networks. Gore: "We are opening up a medium that has traditionally had a one-way conversation with its audience, and making it have a dynamic multi-way conversation".