After more than four years trying to establish itself as a channel by and for the people, Current TV said Wednesday it was canceling three shows and letting go nearly a quarter of its staff -- 80 employees -- as a part of a shift toward more traditional programming. David Neuman, the programming president, also stepped down. Current TV's retrenchment shows the difficulty of grafting the Internet's culture and sensibilities onto established mediums such as television, where viewers often expect slickly produced programs and big-name personalities. At the same time, just as advertisers have shied away from supporting Web sites that feature amateur video, so too they appear no more willing to support user-generated content on television. 'As much as you might want to change the world, sometimes there is not that much you can change -- particularly when you are dealing with the world of television,' said Brent Poer, a managing director of advertising company MediaVest. 'This was a little too radical from the get-go.' The three canceled shows -- 'Current Tonight,' 'Current Takeover' and 'Current Exposed' -- were produced in Los Angeles. Although Current TV is available in 55 million U.S. homes -- about half of all TV homes -- the Gore connection helped the channel garner publicity that far exceeded viewer interest. Earlier this year, two of its reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were held by North Korea after crossing the country's border with China while working on a story on human trafficking. They were released after President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea to lobby for their freedom. The cutbacks and shift in direction come three months after the network's parent company, Current Media, recruited Mark Rosenthal as chief executive. Rosenthal, a former president of Viacom's MTV Networks and chief of advertising giant Interpublic Media, succeeded entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, who co-founded the company with Gore. Rosenthal said the network would not completely abandon content supplied by viewers but rather was 'fine-tuning so we don't have an over-reliance on short-form programming.' One challenge with Current TV's short-form approach is that it makes it harder to keep viewers tuned in, said officials at channel. Current TV wouldn't provide estimates of its audience size, but the channel is believed by industry insiders to attract relatively few viewers. Instead of generating its programming, the channel will buy shows from outside producers. 'It's about a diversity of ideas,' Rosenthal said. Forrester Research analyst Bobby Tulsiani said Current TV's change in direction underscores how an economic model for amateur programming doesn't exist. 'Maybe the lesson is that there is a value to professionally produced content,' Tulsiani said. 'It might have been a stretch to think that amateurs could do the same thing that story writers and trained journalists could do. There is a skill involved.' Not all of Current's programming is based on user-generated content. It has a news magazine called 'Vanguard' that has generated critical acclaim, 'Rotten Tomatoes' about the movie industry (and adapted from the Web site of the same name) and 'infoMania,' a look at modern media. Rosenthal and Current's chief operating officer, Joanna Drake Earl, said the staff cuts and move to court outside program suppliers were not related to the channel's financial health. However, this is the second time the network has reduced its staff. Last year, it cut 60 positions. Last year, the company, whose main backers include Blum Capital Partners, cable giant Comcast Corp., satellite broadcaster DirecTV and investor Ron Burkle's Yucaipa, saw its growth plans dealt a huge blow when it scratched an initial public offering, citing the weak economy. The filing for the $100 million IPO provided a glimpse into the network's financial health. In 2007, the network said it had revenues of about $64 million and losses of $9.9 million. (Optional add end) Poer of MediaVest thinks there is still hope for the channel. 'While they might have gone a little too far, they have a good concept,' he said. 'It may be a good idea to take a pause to try to understand what works and what doesn't work.' 