• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 14, 2011

Current TV has entered into a deal to air a branded entertainment vehicle for Sony and Intel. "Project Shiphunt," produced by @radical.media for the tech companies, features young explorers discovering shipwrecks in Michigan's Lake Huron with assistance from Sony laptops with Intel processors.

The hour-long special debuts Aug. 30 and will have subsequent runs. A promotional campaign will feature co-branding from Current, Sony and Intel in major newspapers, such as The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Dallas Morning News along with radio spots in some markets.

The show is an outgrowth of an initiative last year that had high-school students trying to launch a rocket into the stratosphere with help from a Sony VAIO laptop.

Ocean MacAdams, senior vice president of programming at Current, stated that "Project Shiphunt" is "right in line with our aim to tell stories no one else is telling," noting that the network's mission is to "use our independent platform to offer thoughtful analysis and bring important issues to light."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute were also involved in the production.