Current TV at crossroads: Another makeover or sale?

Reuters reported today that Current TV, founded by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, is undergoing another big shakeup:

“Forget bite-sized clips created by anonymous viewers; the new Current will consist of full-length series from the usual suspects in unscripted production who are getting the word that Current is open for business.”

Gore started the channel five years ago in an attempt to democratize television. The idea was to create a channel driven by user-generated contributions. The channel started about the same time as YouTube and looked to catch the growing wave of citizen video making. But that model proved troubled for several reasons.

First, the channel vetted contributions for the highest quality. They wanted documentary level short movies, and not just someone’s cat playing the piano. Makes sense, but it turns out that there simply wasn’t enough content at that level, even with the widespread adoption of digital video, to fill 24 hours of programming.

And next, the channel originally started off by running those short segments one right after the other. But that wasn’t appealing to viewers, who liked having things broken into clearly defined programs that ran at set times (Yes, even in this era of time-shifting television).

So Current began moving to a hybrid model a couple of years ago, while continuing to experiment with new ways to include the community. It started a co-branded program with Digg where users submitted and voted on questions to ask prominent guests. And back in 2008, Current worked with Twitter to stream tweets on the screen during one of the presidential debates.

Unfortunately, none of this seems to have translated into a robust business, the Reuters says Current is profitable. That likely comes from the fact that it has a baseline income from its agreements with cable channels that is up for renewal. And so, the company has apparently been shopping for a buyer while also moving away from its user-generated content routes to full on programming:

“Now the focus has shifted to fixing Current, perhaps with an eye toward a sale down the road. Last July, Hyatt was replaced as CEO by Mark Rosenthal, the former MTV Networks COO who is rebuilding the channel in the traditional mold Gore avowed to avoid, only to suffer the consequences.”

I’ve had a chance to visit Current, which is based in San Francisco, a few times, and met a lot of thoughtful folks who really believed in turning the broadcast model on its head. I hope the channel retains that spirit no matter which way it goes in the next few months. But that’s looking less and less likely.

I wonder then, if such a revolution is even possible when the station is tied to cable or the airwaves? Or whether such an effort would have more luck if it was Web based? Is there a better way for broadcast or cable stations to include the community in its work?