| Current TV | |
|---|---|
| Current TV's official logo | |
| Launched | August 1, 2005 |
| Owned by | Current Media, Inc. |
| Slogan | Your World. View. |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California |
| Website | current.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 358 |
| Dish Network | Channel 215 |
| Sky | Channel 183 |
| TopTV | Channel 406 |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | 155 |
| Comcast | Channel 107 or 125 |
| In-House (Washington) | Channel 22 |
| Available on most cable systems | Check Local Listing for channels |
| IPTV | |
| Freewire | Channel 178 |
| Verizon FiOS | Channel 192 |
Current TV, or Current, is a Progressive [1] media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC.[2]
The Current cable television network went on the air in the US at midnight EDT (4:00 UTC) 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 was launched in South Africa for satellite subscribers on the TopTV platform on 1 May 2010.
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After the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Gore and Hyatt wanted to start a conventional cable news network. They were disenchanted with the existing networks. The plan evolved into making a viewer-generated channel aimed at an audience demographic age 18–34.
On May 4, 2004, INdTV Holdings, a company co-founded by Gore and Joel Hyatt, purchased cable news channel NewsWorld International (NWI) from Vivendi Universal for the express purpose of launching their new network with the space on some digital cable lineups (and DirecTV) that NWI had. The new network would not have political leanings, Gore said, but would serve as an "independent voice" for a target audience of people between 18 and 34 "who want to learn about the world in a voice they recognize and a view they recognize as their own."
Other reports said that Gore hoped that the channel would help change the tide of "consolidation and conglomeratization" of the media by leading the change to "democratization." The news network was said to be a combination between CNN, MTV, and blipverts.
In the summer of 2004, Gore and Hyatt announced their new network, named INdTV, with a series of public recruitment events. The first of these events was held at the Bambuddha Lounge in San Francisco's Tenderloin, on August 25.
On April 4, 2005, the former Vice President and business partner Hyatt announced that they had changed the name of the network from INdTV to Current. The new television network launched in the United States on August 1, 2005. Currently, Current is available in 30 million homes nationwide in the US, with plans underway for several international versions.
On September 20, 2006, Current TV started a short-lived partnership with Yahoo to supply topic-specific "channels" to the Yahoo Video website. Called the Yahoo! Current Network, the first four channels, "Current Buzz," "Current Traveler" "Current Action" (about action sports) and "Current Driver" quickly became the most popular videos on the Yahoo Video web site. There were Yahoo branded segments on Current TV, similar to the Google Current segments. Additional web channels were planned. However, on December 6, 2006, Yahoo and Current TV announced the end of their relationship.[3] Madeline Smithberg, co-creator of The Daily Show, was the Executive Producer for this project.
On October 6, 2006, a deal was announced with British Sky Broadcasting to create a localized UK and Ireland version of Current TV to its satellite systems in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This version went live on March 12, 2007.[4] The channel launched on Sky EPG number 229 (later moving to 183) and Virgin Media Channel 155 following a refreshed brand identity and advertising campaign developed by Heavenly.[5]
In 2007, Current TV started video-on-demand service on Virgin Media.
On January 31, 2007, Current TV launched on Dish Network.
On September 16, 2007, Current TV won an Emmy award for Best Interactive Television Service at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. This was the first year in which this Emmy was presented during the primetime broadcast. The award was presented by Masi Oka of Heroes fame and MySpace founder Tom Anderson (through their own computers), and Al Gore and Joel Hyatt accepted the award on their behalf.[6]
On February 8, 2008, it was announced that the network will be also available on the Italian SKY Italia satellite digital platform on channel 130. According to the official website, broadcast has started on May 8, 2008.[7]
On June 6, 2008, it was announced that the network will be also available on the Italian 3 DVB-H mobile operator, as free of charge.[8]
Current TV partnered with Twitter for the 2008 Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, allowing viewers watching the Current TV version of the debates to post live on Twitter and have their opinions shown on screen, live.
On 28 January 2009 Current Media Inc, revealed it intended to launch an IPO on the NASDAQ to raise US$100 million (GB£67 million), but it told US regulators over Easter that it was scrapping the plan due to current market conditions.[9] The company added that no securities had been sold and all activity regarding the proposed public offering had been discontinued.[10]
In June 2009, Current TV received approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to establish a Canadian version of the channel, which would be a joint venture of Current TV and the CBC, with the CBC taking 80 percent ownership. The channel would be required to feature at least 35% Canadian content. The new service was planned to begin in fall 2009, pending approval by the Treasury Board,[11] however those plans were put on hold later that year and as of June 2011 there are no plans to bring Current TV to Canada[12]
In July 2009, Current TV, because of financial reasons and the failed IPO abandoned, did a series of changes. CEO Joel Hyatt resigned to a new Vice President position and was replaced by Mark Rosenthal, the former COO and president of MTV Networks, with a plan to reform Current TV to more traditional programing. Lisa Derrick of The Huffington Post predicted that Current TV would undergo a transformation similar to MTV's transformation, during Mark Rosenthal 1990s tenure at MTV, from MTV's multi-minute music video format to longer 30 minute/1 hour reality television programing. Ultimately its assorted pod format was discontinued in lieu of traditional 30 minute block programing. Some elements of the pod format survive inside the themed 30 minute programing. In July 2009, 80 in house staff were laid off, about 25% of Current's staff, and plans were announced to air licensed TV series and films and other content that is not produced by Current in-house or by the VC2 system. Andrew Wallenstein of The Hollywood Reporter predicts Current will make its targeted demographic a decade older from early 20s to early 30s, and add more less-serious entertainment programing to its then mostly news and reality/documentary format.[13][14]
In late 2009, after the announcement of the Comcast-NBC merger, Comcast Corporation submitted a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that revealed it owns a ten percent stake of Current Media LLC.[2] Current received three Emmy nominations in the news and documentary category in 2009.
In mid 2010, Current's Vanguard journalism program's piece, Oxycontin Express received a Peabody Award, a first for both Mariana Van Zellar the journalist behind the story and Current. Current has also received a Headliner award.[15] Around this time, a report by Reuters on the network's ongoing problems suggested that it could have blossomed into something akin to YouTube's video-sharing platform, MSNBC's role as a left-leaning news outlet, or even the Oprah Winfrey Network. "In retrospect," the report concluded, "what's distinctive about Current's troubles was that Gore's vision had so much potential. It's uncanny how close he was to capitalizing on several key trends that transformed the media world, only to watch others do so."[14]
Beginning early in 2011, Current TV started implementing major changes in programming and personnel, beginning with the hiring of Keith Olbermann and the re-launch of his former MSNBC Program Countdown. The network is beginning a long series of major program changes and will eventually develop a full schedule of news, opinion, and analysis programming from an independent progressive perspective.
In May 2011, Current unveiled new imaging and a new logo.
The North Korean military detained two American journalists working for Current TV in March 2009 after they allegedly crossed into North Korea from China.[19]
"Two reporters working for a U.S.-based Internet news media outlet, including a Korean American, were detained by North Korean authorities earlier this week, and they remain in custody there," said Yonhap news agency, quoting an unnamed diplomatic source. Reports say that the journalists were both warned several times by the North Korean military, about crossing the border.[20]
The two female journalists are Korean American Euna Lee and Taiwanese American Laura Ling of Current TV based in California in the United States. Lee is the editor of the news for Current TV and Ling is one of the agency's reporters. They were said to have been shooting a video of the border region of China and N. Korea when they were arrested at the Tumen River. Laura Ling is the younger sister of CNN reporter Lisa Ling.
"We're aware of reports that early in the morning of March 17, China time, two American citizens were taken into custody across the Tumen river by what appear to be North Korean border guards. We are working with Chinese government officials in that particular area to ascertain the whereabouts and welfare of the Americans in question. We've also been in touch with North Korean officials to express our concern about the situation," said U.S. State Department spokesman, Fred Lash.
On March 30, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state news agency of North Korea, reported that preparations were under way for indictments and a trial, saying, "The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements."[21] The two faced trial on June 4.[22]
According to Kim Tae-woo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, “The journalists considerably weakened their government’s leverage against the North,” in ongoing negotiations over the DPRK's nuclear program.[23]
On June 8, Reuters reported that the two reporters were found guilty of illegal entry and committing "hostile acts against the DPRK" and subsequently sentenced to twelve years of hard labor.[24]
Stanford Law professor Allen Weiner said that U.S. citizens are charged with crimes in foreign countries all the time, but: "The difference here is that we have grave doubts whether [the two journalists] have done anything wrong, or whether they were arrested because they were Americans."[25] He added that "now we are finding ourselves asking the North Koreans for something when we were trying to increase international pressure on them. That big stick we're holding just got a lot smaller."[25][26]
On August 4, BBC News reported that they were pardoned amidst a visit by former U.S. president Bill Clinton.[27] They were released and returned home the following day. Upon flying home, they were greeted at an airport in Burbank, California.
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