Unleashing 18–34 Year-olds’ Creativity

The world of user-generated television took a step closer to Blighty’s shores as Current TV has signed an agreement with BSkyB to broadcast to its 8.2m subscribers in the UK and Ireland.

Created in the US by Al Gore in 2005, Current TV is the first television network whose programmes are produced by, for and with an 18–34 year-old audience. Current TV presents non-fiction video segments called ‘pods’, each of which run just a few minutes and explore issues of interest and concern to young people.

Citizen journalists send in their pods via the Current website. If selected for broadcast, their work will be aired in the US as well as the UK. Indeed, the US channel is already receiving submissions from UK contributors, hence the decision to launch here, in spring 2007.

BSkyB CEO James Murdoch said: “Current TV is bringing the web’s sense of empowerment to television for the first time. It has a uniquely collaborative approach to working with viewer producers that stands out among other platforms for user-generated video”.

• Budding filmmakers and citizen journalists alike may be interested in the online editing packages, allowing you to store, edit, upload and share your material, for example:
www.videoegg.com, www.stashspace.com, www.jumpcut.com

Good luck!

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