Current Expands Into Italy With Sky Italia Distribution

SAN FRANCISCO -- Current, the peer-to-peer news and information network, today announced that it has reached a distribution agreement with SKY Italia. The deal, which calls for an Italian version of Current TV will add an additional 4.24 million households, making Current TV available in 56 million households worldwide.

Current was launched in 2005 with the goal of giving young adults a voice in the media by inviting them to collaborate with the network to create television. The network was the first to introduce viewer-created content (VC2), which now makes up approximately one-third of Current’s programming mix.

In Italy, Current will be tailored to the local audience. When VC2 submissions are selected for broadcast in Italy, the pieces will also be considered for Current TV in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland, as well as the other countries that will be added in the future.

Current, founded by former Vice President Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, last week filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering to raise up to $100 million.