The new site continues the practice of inviting consumers to create both content (VC2 for viewer-created content) and VCams (Viewer-created advertising messages). But it adds in the ability to watch and influence the full lineup of programming on the Current TV cable and satellite network and to customize the home page based on preference and popularity.

"It's the first truly two-screen experience," Hyatt says.

With its target squarely set at the twenty-something generation, Current knows that 70% of its viewers are watching with an open laptop. The new site aims to capitalize on this--and to provide an experience that mutually reinforces both platforms, making each better when viewed together.

The new site allows users to watch and influence the full lineup of programming on Current TV. It uses color-coded navigation to clearly define online-only activity and opportunities to watch and to tie into the TV programming.

"Sponsors are very interested," but Hyatt says the site is not yet open to new advertisers. Existing advertisers are following to Current.com. Recent callouts for VCams include one for Drambuie.

During a talk on consumer-generated media Saturday that was an unabashed pitch for Current, chairman and co-founder Al Gore told the delegates at the ANA Annual Meeting that Current has "never" received a negative consumer-generated ad submission for a brand because of the methodology it uses.

Among the Vcams he showcased were spots for Sony, Toyota, T-Mobile, and L'Oreal men's products. "[Our audience] live to make ads and bring a creative energy to the process that's just different," Gore said, adding that Current viewers prefer Vcams to traditionally produced spots by a 9-to-1 margin.

Advertisers, he said, have shifted half their budgets to the viewer-created messaging. "Nothing can help your brand more than taking the leap to let your customers express themselves and join the conversation about your product," he said, sounding more like a veteran ad man than a freshly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner.

To stand a chance of airing on the Current TV and earning $1,000, the spot must follow a brief from the advertiser and contain specific elements. Advertisers that like an ad and want to spread it to a wider audience pay the creator $50,000.

The new programming guide on Current.com offers in-depth background on stories airing on Current TV, explaining how they were produced. The guide also includes playable video and allows viewers to blog, vlog, comment, and post links or pictures about the topic.

Viewer comment and feedback will influence what is aired on the network, and viewers can pick up assignments for future stories.

The front-page news feed combines Current content with the best of the Web daily. In addition, online tutorials offer how-to instructions for viewers who want to participate in Current's form of citizen journalism.

The way to reach the twenty-something audience, Gore maintained, is to let them help create the content. As of today, one-third of Current's stories are produced by viewers. The network received an Emmy in September for its work in interactive television. The former Current.tv site recently won a Webby in the television-related site category.

With the launch of the new site, Current immediately expands the reach of its content beyond the 51 million households it reaches through its distribution partners in the U.S. and U.K.