AL GORE, Inventing A Network

(From The USA Today -- By Robert Bianco)

Currently, AL GORE is preparing for his cable close-up.

Granted, the former vice president and presidential candidate will not be an on-air regular when his new cable network, CURRENT TV, makes its debut AUGUST 1ST, but he will be heavily involved as the chairman of the board. And launching CURRENT, he says, is his only occupation and ambition.

"I consider myself a recovering politician. I'm on about Step Nine."

Billed as the "first national network created by, for, and with an 18-to-34-year-old audience," CURRENT will launch in 20 million homes with programming designed to show younger audiences what's going on in their lives. It will do so in short bursts called PODS, which will vary in length from 15 seconds to five minutes.
[PODS, hunh Al? Another fresh idea and term?]

The goal, Gore says, is to serve as a bridge between the Internet and TV by allowing people to customize what they watch. They can even produce what they watch through VIEWER CONTROLLED CONTENT pieces submitted via the Internet.

Though viewers will influence content, Gore says his political views won't, a point some have questioned. "The reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan. It's not intended to be ideological."

And though he may be a relative newcomer to the TV business, Gore has already learned how to stick to the corporate message, refusing to answer a question about KARL ROVE because he was there to speak about CURRENT. He was, however, willing to compare working on CURRENT to running for PRESIDENT.

"It has been a blast. It has been so much fun. It is hard -- but I feel like I've gotten my graduate degree in business."