There’s a quiet revolution going on at a local access TV station in Denver, Colorado. Following the Net 2.0 path of “crowdsourcing,” user-driven content and open source development, Denver’s Public Access TV Station, called Denver Open Media (DOM) is blazing a new trail in this direction. Their model (this is a test site): to literally look to local Community (and to the web) for user generated video content and for the, “wisdom of the crowd” in terms of determining it’s relevancy and lineup within the programming schedule.

In many ways this is a similar but broader concept to that of Current TV. Viewers/Users (the lines blur as the mediums do) can submit video content, vote on it, rank it, and literally interact with it via the network’s Web site. The primary difference between what Denver Open Media is doing and Current TV is their local, physical presence as a community TV station vs. the national/Global presence of Current TV. This difference is vital for giving local news & interests a televised and web-centric outlet, opposed to Current TV’s National focus. A field producer for DOM can even check out high-end cameras, lights and audio equipment. In many ways it’s analogous to what Chicago’s Secret Radio Project is trying to accomplish.

Denver isn’t alone in this endeavor- they’ve teamed up with the Manhattan Neighborhood Network and invested over $100,000 in a sophisticated back-end, Drupal-based system that will accommodate the uploading, voting, and interaction of the content. Their shared vision - To transform community-based, local access TV into a true “user-driven medium,” less reliant on public funds, and diverting more resources to the the public it serves. It will be very interesting to see if other stations follow suit. DOM’s model is not only forward thinking, but it’s pragmatic as the funds grow ever more scarce for community access TV on a nationwide scale. Perhaps the revolution will be televised…

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Chris Duffy follows Video, Search, and Entertainment technology. He has a professional background in Cable Television, Big Telecom, and currently Real Estate 2.0. He blogs at Life on the Gride.