Circa Pict. & Prod. Co. Intnl Inc. (fka CPPD)

[jmhollen]

The markets are CLOSED, but the pump goes on...........

Palm Springs, Calif., Network Goes Straight for Gay Viewers on Cable
By Joseph Ascenzi, The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif.

Feb. 9--A Palm Springs media company that specializes in programming for gays and lesbians will launch a cable television network.

The Triangle Television Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Triangle Multi-Media Limited, will begin broadcasting within 90 days, Chief Executive Officer Frank Olsen said Feb. 4.

TTN, as the network will be known, will be available to about 10,000 cable television companies throughout the United States and Puerto Rico for $2 a month for each subscriber, Olsen said.

Time Warner Cable television has agreed to make the signal available to any of its local system operators that want to broadcast it, Olsen said.

The fledgling network must persuade other cable carriers, large and small, to pick up TTN's signal.

"We're going to throw sand up in the air and hope the wind catches it," said Olsen, who has spent 40 years working in radio and television. "It's a slow business and it can take a while for things to catch on, but we think this can work. The cable networks can send the signal to whoever wants it without offending anyone.

"I'll be happy if we get one subscriber," Olsen laughed. (...Aha, a ray of truth...)

Triangle Television will employ six people to start, and has spent about $6 million developing the network.

Triangle Television could spend another $2 million before it begins broadcasting its signal by satellite.

Triangle Network will broadcast taped gay athletic contests and fashion shows, among other programs.

The network will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but much of its programming will be repeated several times, standard practice among most specialized cable television networks.

Olsen declined to discuss advertising rates, but selling advertising on Triangle Network could be difficult, he said.

"I worked for a black radio station during the 1960s, and a lot of companies didn't want to buy [advertising] with us," he said. "This could be the same thing. Advertisers don't want to pick up one gay person and lose two Christians."

Triangle Multi-Media formerly owned and operated two radio stations in Seattle that broadcast gay and lesbian programming.

After selling those stations three years ago, Triangle has concentrated on developing its television venture.

The business was propped up by investors, but the going has been rough, Olsen said. "We've made a lot of mistakes. We rented buildings that were too big and we hired too many people. (...No schmidt, Scherlock - the incompetence really shows...)

"But we're going to get this done. I'm 100 percent sure we're going to get this started." (...Which does he mean, "..get it done.." or just "..get it started.." again...)

Palm Springs, with a history of tolerance toward gays and lesbians, is a logical place for a gay-oriented television network to operate, said Milton Jones, publisher of Desert Publications Inc. and the Jones Agency, a public relations firm.

Jones is leasing space to Triangle Broadcasting in his building at 303 No. Indian Canyon Drive.

-----

To see more of The Business Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go tohttp://www.thebizpress.com

(c) 2004, The Business Press, San Bernardino, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. TWX