Current.tv (Visit site ) (redirects to current.com)

Current TV is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. The Comcast Corporation currently owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC. The Current cable television network went on the air in the US at midnight EDT on the morning of August 1, 2005. A second network, operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland started its operation March 12, 2007, for Sky in the UK and Ireland and on Virgin Media in the UK. A third network, operated in Italy started its operation February 8, 2008, for SKY Italia subscribers and later for 3 subscribers. Current TV will also be made available for South African satellite subscribers on the TopTV platform launching 1 May. Current TV features "pods," or short programs, of which a portion are created by viewers and users. An experimental Canadian show from CBC called ZeD was the first programmed broadcast of user-generated video content. Other inspiration for Current TV came from a 1990s series on MTV called UNfiltered, where the network sent cameras to viewers in order to report on stories they thought were important. Current TV is the first American 24-hour network based around viewer-created content, which it dubs VC2. Users contribute three-to-seven-minute "pods", which are on a variety of subject matter. The content is filtered by registered users, on Current's website through a voting process, but pods are ultimately approved or disapproved by Current's on-air programming department, VC2 makes up a portion of the material aired on the channel. Users can also create Viewer Created Ad Messages, or V-CAMs and Current TV promos which are small promotions for either Current TV or the general topic of VC2. The channel has exclusive broadcast rights for all media in perpetuity on viewer-submitted pods, and in some cases outright ownership of the pod and its raw footage, although this is negotiated on a pod by pod basis. Along with a plethora of VC2 content, Current also produces a variety of programs internally, including: ... (expand) (contract)