Current TV

After going to see the Al Gore movie this past weekend, I re-read an article about him in Wired magazine. What I forgot about Al, aside from the fact he created the Internet, is his project called Current TV. A cable network that is broadcast on some major cable providers, but not on my sweet (read sarcasm) Adelphia package. I heard about it when it launched, visited the web site, and pretty much forgot about it. Because of the Youtube.com and Google Video phenomenon that has been sweeping the internet, Current TV has been swept under the proverbial internet rug. The Wired article indicates a lackluster uptake on the TV channel, but I decided to give it another go.

From the little time I spent on the site (god forbid I do any research before I write), It appears that the great inventor of Internet has reinvented TV with "Viewer Generated" (I love catch phrases) content. Viewers can upload content, it is voted on, and if it meets the muster of the crowd (and some network guy I am sure) it hits the airwaves. The content is far from the backstreet boys lip-sync, every high school girl dance to "I am in love with a stripper", grainy less than 5 min piece of crap that is not worth the 1's and 0's it is written on. No from the few (yes I do massive research when I speak from authority) videos I have seen, the quality is that of PBS or the radio equivalent This American Life. I was impressed by the "digg.com", myspace.com social feeling of the site. It seems that you can "Green Light" (my emphasis for effect) videos to give it one more vote to hit the front page airwaves.

You can check it out for yourself online here or at the following cable stations:

DIRECTV

Nationwide 366

Time Warner Digital

New York City 103
Los Angeles 116

Honolulu 108

Other cities Select 'Time Warner' below

Comcast

Most Cities 107
Los Angeles 255

Some sampes from the site:

24 hours in Rome
or

Aldo's America