A version of the Current TV channel launched by Al Gore in the United States a year ago is to be available in the UK and Ireland following an agreement with satellite broadcaster BSkyB. It is the first international distribution deal for Current TV and the first step in a strategy from Sky to develop a broader presence in user-generated content.
A version of the Current TV channel launched by Al Gore in the United States a year ago is to be available in the UK and Ireland following an agreement with satellite broadcaster BSkyB. It is the first international distribution deal for Current TV and the first step in a strategy from Sky to develop a broader presence in user-generated content.
“This is a big step in fulfilling Current’s mission of sparking a global conversation among young adults,” said Al Gore, the chairman of the channel and former vice president of the United States. “Bringing our viewer created content model to the UK and Ireland will give millions of young viewers the opportunity to not only watch, but also to create, television programming that is relevant to them.”
Current TV aims to involve its young adult audience directly, with around a third of its programming produced by viewers. To tailor its output to the local audience, Current plans to deliver a channel specifically designed for the British and Irish markets. Viewers will be able to submit their video segments via the Current web site and, if their work is selected for broadcast, they will also have a chance to have their pieces air on network in the United States and other markets in the future.
“We set out to be the television homepage of the internet generation,” said Current TV chief executive and co-founder Joel Hyatt.
The Current TV model coincides with an incredible interest in user-contributed to content driving the popularity of online sites such as YouTube. The difference with Current TV is that user contributions are selected and produced to provide higher quality programming, demonstrating that low budget amateur video is not necessarily synonymous with poor production values. Contributors are also paid, albeit not much, for their efforts.
“Current TV is bringing the web’s sense of empowerment to television for the first time,” said James Murdoch, the chief executive of BSkyB. “It has a uniquely collaborative approach to working with viewer producers that stands out among other platforms for user-generated video. As a first step towards Sky’s own moves in this fascinating field, we’re pleased to help give a voice to millions of young people throughout the UK and Ireland.”
“The comfort zone of a classic TV production company is something that is going to get shaken up,” he told reporters. “Producers have to engage with wider communities. That’s not a fad or a niche or a blip that’s going to go away.”
Currently available in around 30 million homes through Comcast, Time Warner Cable and DIRECTV, the expansion will reach a further 8 million homes in the UK and Ireland when the channel launches there in a few months.
Current TV has high ideals and comparatively high production values, based on traditional narrative techniques. Other broadcasters are also using technology to offer viewers their own fifteen seconds of fame.
Fame
Fame TV, another user-generated television channel is likely to beat Current to launch. The channel will be fully interactive and rely entirely on members of the public for its programming content and upon interactivity for its revenue model.
“We are moving into a new era of television where user generated content and viewer interaction are key to the programming,” said John Hayes, head of development at the new channel. “The mobile phone will become the new remote control and we’re expecting to generate a vast library of diverse content, courtesy of the British public.”
He compared the channel to web sites like MySpace, saying that it will provide viewers with a platform to promote themselves, allowing aspiring actors, models and unsigned bands will be able to showcase their talents on national television.
Flux
MTV recently launched its Flux channel in the UK which also revolves around viewer contributed material and aims to create a pan-platform video version of a social networking site.
When it was announced earlier in the year, Angel Gambino, who heads commercial strategy and digital media at MTV Networks UK said: “the launch of MTV Flux ushers in a new era in user-generated content and adds a whole new dimension to the concept of social networking.”