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QBID IN THE MEDIA AGAIN ARTICLE IN THE DENVER POST



Is the world ready for Gay TV?

By Michael Booth
Denver Post Columnist

Wednesday, December 19, 2001 - The people who paid for full-page ads in daily papers across the nation last week certainly think so. Nine years after a brutal fight over gay rights dominated Colorado's political and cultural scene, a purple-tinted ad in Denver's papers told readers they could "invite Gay TV into your home!"

The Triangle Television Network in California transmits 24 hours a day of gay-oriented, gay-friendly programming on a premium channel charging $9.95 a month. Some people with the older, 30-inch or larger dishes can already pull in the channel.

The problem for Gay TV is that cable and satellite providers are already swamped with requests for space on their limited channel capacity. So the ads are aimed at prompting readers to call their provider and demand that Gay TV be included as a choice like other premium channels, such as HBO.

In Denver, the ads were also aimed at the people who can make that decision. AT&T Broadband, the largest cable provider in the nation, and EchoStar, one of two satellite dish networks, are based in the Denver area. Triangle Television founder Frank Olsen said he bought ads in 16 cities "to get the cable companies aware of us."

Supporters say their pitch is simple: There is already BET, Black Entertainment Television. There is Oxygen, a network oriented toward women. There are numerous Hispanic-interest channels. There's a channel for everything from master gardeners to conservative Christians. Why not a channel for gay interests - not pornography, not stereotypes, but plenty of news, movies and sporting events.

"I sold black radio in the 1960s," said Olsen, who says he currently has 19,000 subscribers for Triangle Television and a cash infusion from investors. "There's still a few prejudices, but I think the time has come. Television has become more individual."

Without an overwhelming batch of phone calls from potential subscribers, finding space will be Gay TV's toughest sell. EchoStar's DishNetwork is already running out of channels, in part because of federal requirements to carry local broadcast channels in all major cities. Part of the motivation for EchoStar's controversial proposal to merge with its lone competitor, DirecTV, is to consolidate precious satellite space and solve the channel problem.

EchoStar spokeswoman Judyann Atencio said the company has heard from Gay TV for about a year now, but no agreement is imminent. "A lot of channels come in to our programming department to make a pitch," she said. "Right now there's not a whole lot of room."

Finding advertisers, though, is not as hard as it used to be. Major ad buyers from Coors to American Express to American Airlines have set up marketing campaigns aimed at gay consumers, many of whom register high on surveys of disposable income.

Programmers have made a few attempts at gay-oriented channels before, said David Smith, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a gay rights advocacy group in Washington, D.C. "Absolutely, it's time," Smith said. "It's a community service. And it's long overdue."

It remains a touchy subject, however. Olsen asserts that digital technology means no viewer will come across the channel while surfing if they aren't a subscriber.

It may seem an odd ambition, for an influential interest group to welcome becoming "just another channel" among hundreds. But in TV-oriented America, gaining a channel niche may paradoxically be exactly the right way to go mainstream. Part of arriving in a free market culture is to be targeted for your money, not just your politics.

Michael Booth's consumer column appears here Wednesdays. Reach him with questions or suggestions at [e-mail] or 303-820-1686.

SOURCE = http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,141%257E281404,00.html