Zed 2.0 Coming to Canada via Al Gore

Anyone remember the CBC television show Zed? I certainly hope so, it was years ahead of it's time and the best arts and cultural television program the CBC has had in decades. You can still find the website for it at zed.cbc.ca.

Second Question, does anyone remember Al Gore? Well back in 2005 Al Gore
Newsworld International and turned it into Current TV and now, if the CRTC gives its assent the CBC and Al Gore will lauch Current Canada in late 2009.

"The new channel will, of course, adhere to nationwide broadcasting rules and incorporate at least 35% Canadian content. And, much like its U.S. counterpart, the network will encourage the general public to submit its own content and vote online for which stories are the most interesting — the user-generated content that receives the greatest number of votes will have a better chance of making it on-air.

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As a writer at Wired magazine said recently, the new Current Canada network “will be based in part on a three-year-old experimental TV show [called] ZeD, a late-night, arts-and-culture program from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that mixes amateur movies submitted through a website with independent film and studio-produced content — the same model proposed by Current TV.”"

As ironic as it is that this should come via an American, it can't be anything but great news for Canadians who care about arts, culture and current affairs. Try though they might, traditional television networks (and cable channels) have had only marginal success in making news interactive, and without this component more and more people are driven to the web (some exclusively) for information. Now if only they can find a way to make Current Canada customizable.