AL Gore will receive an honorary International Emmy award recognising his role in launching the interactive Current TV channel.The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said this week that it will present the award to the former vice president in a Nov. 19 ceremony in New York.

The Founders Award is presented to a person or organisation "which crosses cultural boundaries to touch our common humanity", academy president Bruce Paisner said.

"We in the media industry are honoured that one of the world's leading political figures has joined our global community of broadcasters," Paisner said.

Gore co-founded Current TV in August 2005 for young, technologically savvy viewers. The cable network's programming consists of short documentaries and viewer-created content.

Current TV reaches about 40 million homes in the United States, and was introduced to another ten million homes in Britain this month.