MONTREAL -- Current TV, the user-generated news network founded by Al Gore, just got the green light to operate in Canada.
This makes Canada the fifth country to have a local Current TV operation after the U.S., Britain, Ireland and Italy.
The youth-oriented, 24-hour channel features short programming on several topics, many of which are made by the viewers themselves.
While the channel is disclosing few specifics about programming, it expects to go live late this year.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission this week gave Current TV a Category 2 specialty licence, which means it can be carried optionally by cable or satellite providers.
The channel is a partnership between San Francisco-based Current TV and the CBC, which owns 80 per cent of the joint venture. One condition of the licence is that 35 per cent of all content must be Canadian.
"It's too soon to say what the programming will be or how many people we expect to contribute," said CBC spokesman Jeff Keay. "But the range of content will be extremely broad.
"Anybody can submit content, but what gets on the air will be subject to our oversight."
Like in other countries, Current TV will be accompanied by a website where its programs can be watched and voted on. It will also feature news stories in multimedia formats.
In an interview with the trade publication Media in Canada, Keay said the CBC might integrate content from Current TV into its other properties.
"Current Canada is going to hopefully connect with young adults on their turf and from their perspective and offer them a voice in the programming," he said.
In the U.S., some of Current TV's own programs, like the movie-reviewing Rotten Tomatoes Show and animated sketch series SuperNews, enjoy a large following.
The channel made the news recently when two of its reporters were detained by North Korea for allegedly crossing into the country from China and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
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