The first national network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience, Current will offer 24 hours of programming in a unique, short-form content format when it premieres August 1. Current will invite audiences to move beyond their roles as viewers to become active collaborators, encouraging them to help shape the network's content and fulfill its mission -- to serve as a TV platform where the voices of young adults can be heard.

"The Internet opened a floodgate for young people whose passions are finally being heard, but TV hasn't followed suit. Young adults have a powerful voice, but you can't hear that voice on television ... yet," said Gore, who serves as the network's chairman of the board. "We intend to change that with Current, giving those who crave the empowerment of the Web the same opportunity for expression on television. We want to transform the television medium itself, giving a national platform to those who are hungry to help create the TV they want to watch."

The participatory model of Current marks a giant leap in seven decades of television. "Until now, the notion of viewer participation has been limited to sending a tape to 'America's Funniest Home Videos,' calling an interview show, taking part in an instant poll, or voting someone off an island," added Gore. "We're creating a powerful new brand of television that doesn't treat audiences as merely viewers, but as collaborators."

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.

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