Al Gore, the guy who's shutting down Newsworld International, is looking CBC's very cool show ZeD as an inspiration for his new cable network, Current TV, which is set to open this summer.

An excerpt:

When Dave Grafstein, Current TV's top software programmer, visited CBC Television in Vancouver last week, he was there to find out more about a groundbreaking, multiplatform program so distinctly Canadian and different from anything out there on the U.S.-dominated dial, it takes its name from the Canadian pronunciation of the letter 'zee.'

ZeD is a late-night, arts-and-culture program that airs weeknights from October to April, but has an even busier Website (http://www.zed.cbc.ca), where independent artists from around the world upload their own short films, videos, animation, visual art, short stories, poetry, music and far-out ideas. If the submissions pass basic copyright requirements, they are published on-line, for free perusal by the site's 45,962 subscribed members.

The best submissions are bought and aired on ZeD's TV program as part of a funky nightly mix that features slick, studio-produced videos, live performances, guest interviews, dispatches from culture correspondents across the country and profiles on everything from lesbian park rangers, to artisans who make jewellery out of dead bugs. The TV show is now hosted by Ziya Tong, a sassy digital-media specialist with an eclectic résumé that includes an encyclopedia-sales stint in Alaska.

Since launching three years ago, ZeD has won numerous accolades and awards (including an Emmy nomination for outstanding achievement in advanced media technology). And as of last count, yesterday afternoon, 51,475 original submissions had been published on-line.