Intellectual Property Law

Current TV, the independent cable television network founded by vice president Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, broke new ground Friday night when it melded a traditional televised presidential debate format with next-generation web technology that incorporated viewers' spontaneous reactions into the broadcast.

Current incorporated audiences' 140-character commentaries from the microblogging service Twitter into their broadcasts.

"CNN regularly requests feedback from Twitter followers on air and shows their Twitter account. FOX News anchors look at their phones for Twitter feedback during broadcasts, but this Current TV approach is far bolder and much more immersive," said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone in an e-mail. "I'd say its a first."

Current wrote software that fed the flow of filtered Twitter commentary through the studio's production equipment to television screens. They displayed the commentary using Flash, which floated on top of the television images coming from the debate pool feed.

The effect of the set-up at times could be rather ghostly -- it was like having a group of disembodied members of the community chiming in telepathically. At other times, the accompanying two-liners floating up at the bottom of the screen could be distracting. But the hacked debate format for the most part added a much-needed face-lift to a shopworn regime that on Friday night often felt wooden and rehearsed.

"Current was designed from the get-go to be a bridge between the internet, and the television medium," Gore said at a small informal gathering of bloggers and journalists at Current's studios opposite San Francisco's AT&T Park. "And in the process to democratize the television medium."

"So here we have the first of the quadrennial debates and instead of doing it the same old way, Current TV and Current.com have a fantastic innovation that is inviting everybody to take part, and the folks who are part of the demographic that Current is aimed at really prefer to watch and absorb an event like this with their peers, with their friends." 

Current's format differs from previous experiments with presidential debates this year because it sent audience comments directly from the web to televisions, rather than solely streaming television onto the web and having people comment there.

Another effect of the set-up was simply visceral: Instead of solely focusing on the candidates' themselves, the audience experienced feedback simultaneously as they watched. It was a real-time, moment-to-moment assessment of how the candidates were performing as filtered through the minds of the group.

So when Barack Obama used the phrases "Wall Street" versus "Main Street," for example, within moments several tweets appeared on screen that complained about the overused comparison.

"Main Street has become a hideous cliche in this debate," tweeted Tom Watson.   

And when John McCain emphasized his travel to Afghanistan and Warizistan, it drew this amusing comment from "lauraelizabethm," which floated underneath the candidates on screen: "New McCain-Palin campaign song: 'I've Been Everywhere' by Johnny Cash."

The new format drew mixed reactions.

"All of the debates should have contextual tweets on them at the bottom, said Tara "Miss Rogue" Hunt, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Citizen Agency, a consulting firm with expertise in building online communities. Hunt watched the debate on Current. "I think it makes it more interesting," she said. 

The stream of running commentary gave her different perspectives.

Some of the Twitterers noted that McCain looked relaxed, and Obama pensive, and that Obama's frequent interruptions when McCain spoke indicated that he felt defensive.

That changed Hunt's perception of Obama's performance as she watched. She didn't feel distracted from the substance of the discussions because she was familiar with the candidates' talking points.

But her friend Shel Israel disagreed.

"It's just a bunch of young people making shallow comments," he said. "Next time, I'll stay in the privacy of my home, and have a conversation with my wife."