CURRENT: Al Gore's TV network launches August 1

Just an FYI...August 1, 2005 sees the launch of Al Gore's long-awaited TV network. Finally it has a name -- "Current" -- "created by, for, and with an 18-34 year old audience."

The press release sheds some light on the eagerly anticipated venture, explaining how Current seeks to reinvent informative content by using the new rules of the information age.

More on the flip.

Promising a slate of programming that's smart, fun and fearless (as a
truly independent network), Current seeks to cater to the Internet generation's need for choice and control.  Reflective of its name, it will serve up the most current information on the people, places and happenings of interest to viewers 18-34, a demographic that no longer relates to traditional news.

Taking its cues from their media consumption habits, Current will offer short-form programming in the TV equivalent of an iPod shuffle.  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, subjects that young adults can rarely find on television.  Pod segments include "Current Playlist" (music for the digital generation), "Current Parent" (advice to first-timers), "Current Gigs" (career guidance) and "Current Soul" (trends in spiritual awakening).  Drawing from audience submissions are such pods as "Current Courage" (profiles of heroism and altruism), "Current Video" (video clips from the next Spielbergs or Spike Jonzes) and "Current Rant" (inviting viewers to let off steam).

"Google Current," built using samplings of popular Google search data, including from Google Zeitgeist, complements the free-flowing pod format with news updates each half-hour.  Thirty seconds to three minutes in length, these segments buck conventional news practices by reporting 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.

At launch, Current is expected to reach almost 20 million homes.

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.

The entire press release can be found here. I'm sure more of the tantalizing details will be forthcoming. For now, we'll have to salivate over this lofty teaser:

Given its innovative 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."