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Al Gore brings TV for Guardianistas to UK

What do you know, you can marry your cousin

Yesterday saw the UK launch of yet another TV-on-the-internet company - only this one is also TV-on-the-internet-on-TV.

Alongside a website of user-generated content, the channel has slots on Sky and Virgin TV.

Al Gore-backed current.tv aims to offer a rarified version of YouTube - less happy-slapping and more politics. Based on users' votes, some submitted videos will find their way onto the broadcast TV channel.

The channel has also done a deal with Google, which will provide an hourly news update of the most popular searches.

Of course, it is unfair to judge the site, or the channel, until it has a chance to attract a community, but it seems to lack much of a British twist or sense of humour. The forums and message boards are still pretty empty. Other European sites which specialise in homegrown political content seem strangely silent on the new arrival.

There is definitely a strong need for improving the experience of sites like YouTube - there is so much content on it that finding what you are looking for is all but impossible. And arguably there is room for some video content to find its way onto mainstream TV.

But the site as it stands is scarcely less random than YouTube. Asking for similar content to a piece on a guerrilla gardener takes you to a video profile of a papparazzi photographer. This is legal advice on marrying your cousin, legal in 26 states, while this is an entertaining rant on Britishness.

Current TV will pay contributors to the site.

Al Gore promoted the site on the Richard and Judy show - keenly watched by video vigilantes, Alan Partridge fans and students.

Go to Current.tv for more and let us know what you think. ®

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