Offering a glimpse of the independent network first announced at last year's National Cable & Telecommunications Association convention, former Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt revealed this morning that the name of the new venture, formerly known as INdTV, will be Current.

Current will offer 24 hours of programming in a "unique, short-form content format" when it premieres August 1. It also will invite audiences to "move beyond their roles as viewers to become active collaborators, encouraging them to help shape the network's content and fulfill its mission - to serve as a TV platform where the voices of young adults can be heard," the press release said.

Gore, who once took credit for inventing the Internet, is quoted as saying that "the Internet opened a floodgate for young people whose passions are finally being heard, but TV hasn't followed suit."

Young adults, he said, "don't have a voice on television ... yet. We intend to change that with Current, giving those who crave the empowerment of the Web the same opportunity for expression on television. We want to transform the television medium itself, giving a national platform to those who are hungry to help create the TV they want to watch."

Added the new television chairman: "Until now, the notion of viewer participation has been limited to sending a tape to 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' calling an interview show, taking part in an instant poll, or voting someone off an island. We're creating a powerful new brand of television that doesn't treat audiences as merely viewers, but as collaborators."

Promising a slate of programming that's "smart, fun and fearless," the network promises to serve up the most current information on the people, places and happenings of interest to viewers aged 18-34.

Taking its cues from their media consumption habits, Current will offer short-form programming "in the TV equivalent of an iPod shuffle," the release said.

Its "pods" will be 15-second to five-minute segments that range from the hottest trends in technology, fashion, television, music and videogames, to pressing issues such as the environment, relationships, spirituality, finance, politics and parenting.

A feature entitled "Google Current," built using samplings of popular Google search data, will complement the pod format with news updates each half-hour. Thirty seconds to three minutes in length, the segments will report not on what media editors decide is news, but on the topics people are actually searching for right now. So news isn't what the network thinks you should know, but what the world is searching to learn.

Guided by young hosts set in a "club-like atmosphere," Current's programming will include both professionally produced segments and viewer-created content. Current viewers will be able to easily upload their own segments through the network's online "Current Studio," available through the website (www.current.tv). The submissions will be assessed and ranked by other viewers, potentially voting the best ones onto the air.

Current also plans to launch a comprehensive online training program that will provide classes on storytelling, shooting and editing, teaching anyone with a digital video camera and computer how to produce segments. Through this first-of-its-kind online training program, the network seeks to cultivate a national, and eventually global, coterie of "Current Journalists" (CJs).

In May 2004, Current laid the foundation for its launch when the company's founders acquired Newsworld International (NWI), a 24-hour channel dedicated to global news produced by The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Current will build on NWI's reach into nearly 20 million subscriber households in the U.S. with carriage agreements on DirecTV's "Total Choice" tier, Time Warner Cable's basic digital tier, and Comcast systems in key markets.

Current's executive team includes Al Gore (chairman of the board); Joel Hyatt (chief executive officer), recognized by Business Week as one of the top 50 business leaders in the country for his entrepreneurial ventures; Mark Goldman (chief operating officer), a former MCA Television executive recruited by News Corp. to launch Sky Latin America Partners; David Neuman (president, programming), a former NBC executive in charge of comedy including "The Cosby Show," "Cheers" and "Family Ties," and chief programming officer at CNN; Anne Kallin Zehren (president, sales and marketing), who as launch publisher of the award-winning Teen People built it into the fastest-ever magazine to reach profitability; and Joanna Drake Earl (senior VP, Online Studio), who advised the heads of Hollywood's leading studios and Silicon Valley's most powerful tech firms as a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton.

Given its mission to breed a new species of TV, network co- founder Joel Hyatt recognizes the wisdom of Orson Welles, who once said, "Don't give them what you think they want. Give them what they never thought was possible."

Hyatt adds: "Young people believe it isn't possible to participate in the creation of television because the medium is not accessible to them. And traditional TV networks aren't willing or able to empower their viewers. Current is unleashing the creativity of young people, enabling their voice to be heard and their stories to be shared. What's possible just got a lot more exciting."

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