Current TV Moves Away from UGC.

Rumors are flying high that Al Gore’s Current TV network will announce more staff lay-offs. Current TV was first launched in August of 2005 and announced groundbreaking mandate to solicit user-generated-content (UGC) and have it screened on its official website. With the recent joint venture agreement made with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC taking 80% ownership) to produce and broadcast Current TV in Canada, its fair to say Current TV executives are moving away from the original plan of soliciting UGC from the public. So let us to be honest with ourselves. Relying just on the UGC model will not produce you investigative professional looking documentaries. As much as I’m all for UGC on the internet, producing ground breaking documentary takes time, resources and lots of money. Lets not forget, television network executives and advertisers are still not convinced how to produce, deliver and make money from content over the internet.

But, having said that, here is some good news. Current TV is airing a powerful documentary on America’s addiction to prescription drugs. Unfortunately, Current TV is unavailable for broadcast in Australia- so I’ll have to wait for it to be posted online for screening. That said, the documentary was produced and reported by Vanguard’s Marian van Zeller- a very talented VJ. I worked with Marian very briefly in 2004-2005 during her stint with CBC News: Sunday.

The new season of Vanguard premieres Oct. 14 at 10/9c with “The OxyContin Express“, a powerful one-hour documentary on prescription drug abuse. Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to South Florida, the “Colombia of prescription drugs,” to expose a bustling pill pipeline that stretches from the beaches of Ft. Lauderdale to the rolling hills of Appalachia. “The OxyContin Express” features intimate access with pill addicts, prisoners and law enforcement as each struggles with a growing national epidemic.