TORONTO – The CBC and Al Gore’s Current Media are getting together to launch Current Canada, a new "cross-platform media company" aimed at young adults, the two companies announced today.
Retracing the history a little shows the new channel is a completion of a circle – of sorts anyway – as Current comes home to its ownership roots with this launch.
An American news/information/opinion channel and online presence aimed at young Americans – Current was in its past life Newsworld International – a cable news channel launched by the CBC and Power Corporation in the 1990s in the U.S. marketplace. Barry Diller purchased the lightly-viewed (and lightly distributed) channel – along with Trio – an international arts and entertainment channel also owned by Power and CBC – for about $150 million, although CBC remained on to oversee the programming, much of which still came from the Corp.
Diller sold the channel and others to Vivendi and then in 2004, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore and partners bought Newsworld International, renaming it Current in 2005 and taking the programming in a completely different direction. Out went the CBC anchor desks and in came viewer generated content and far more edgy, liberal, youth-skewed programming.
Versions of Current are also available in the U.K., Ireland and Italy. It’s in over 58 million households through Comcast, Time Warner, DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon, AT&T, BSkyB, Virgin Media and Sky Italia.
The new Canadian media company, Current Canada, will be focused on “engaging young adult audiences through participatory and interactive initiatives on TV and on the web,” says today’s press release.
Current Canada will be a fully integrated web and TV platform that will allow users to participate in shaping the programming, while connecting young adults to what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voice, continues the release. Current Canada will exist as both a web site and (pending regulatory approval) a category 2 digital specialty channel, Current TV.
An application to the CRTC has already been made and the channel will launch prior to next fall, a CBC spokesman told Cartt.ca.
Nearly one-third of Current Canada programming will be created by the viewers, making it “the only television network that is produced and programmed in collaboration with its Canadian audience,” says the release.
“Current is at the forefront of the global media revolution and Current Canada is our next step forward,” said Al Gore, chairman of Current, in the release. “By creating a cable network that works in concert with our online community, Current is facilitating a global conversation with our young adult audience. There’s nothing like it on the media landscape today.”
“Current Canada will have the potential to dramatically alter the way Canadians interact with both television and online programming,” added Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC English Services, in the same release. “Based on the successful model of Current TV in the United States, the U.K. and Italy, we intend to fundamentally redefine some basic elements of how programs are created and evaluated. This includes the interesting notion of who gets to create programming.”
“Current Canada and will be Canada’s first completely integrated media entity, creating a truly cross-platform network,” added Current CEO Joel Hyatt. “We look forward to working with our partners at the CBC and creating a media experience for young adults that is compelling, authentic and relevant to them.”
www.cbc.ca
www.current.com
