Bay Area Reporter Vol. 35 No.2 January 13, 2005
Gay cable channel Q TV gets set to expand by Matthew S. Bajko
As media giant Viacom continues to work on its planned gay channel LOGO, the Q Television Network is already on the air in three markets and set to expand to more this year.
Last November 1, Q Television began airing free and unscrambled to RCN cable subscribers in San Francisco, Boston, and New York City. The channel will convert to a subscriber service at the end of January and by mid-year plans on being in 35 percent of the country, adding 15 major cities, such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C.
"Look at the blue states and the blue cities and we'll be there," said Frank Olsen, CEO and president of the channel.
The channel cost $20 million to launch, and advertisers have included Time Life Music, TriOral Dental Care, Life Alert, Tupperware, and the Fitness Made Simple workout video.
Still not yet widely known to the gay community, the channel received a major boost in its visibility when David Letterman mocked the channel with his "Top 10 List" on his program Monday, January 10. Some of the shows Letterman joked the channel airs included "Everybody loves Raymond...especially Steve;" "CSI: San Francisco;" "Desperate Houseboys;" and "My wife and kids...have no idea."
"Awareness is growing as we continue to be recognized as the gay network of choice by celebrities and the general public," said Olsen.
In San Francisco, access to the channel is limited. According to RCN's Web site, the cable provider serves the city's Noe Valley, Castro, Diamond Heights, Potrero Hill, and Mission districts as well as five Peninsula cities. It airs Q Television on digital channel 255.
Producers of local gay cable programs say they do not see the cable channel as direct competition. Tim Gaskin, producer and host of Out Spoken, which focuses on San Francisco's LGBT community and began airing on Comcast cable around the same time as Q Television's debut, said it is just a coincidence.
"They are just not related," said Gaskin of the two launches. "Comcast will always put on gay programming but they need a producer to bring them the content. I developed it on my own and they happily agreed to air it."
Unlike the national channels, which are business ventures, Gaskin's show is an all-volunteer produced endeavor.
"Comcast is obligated to provide community programming, so my program is community-service oriented," he said. "It is not based on ratings or competition; it is based on commitment."
Since the show began airing, Gaskin said the community has begun to embrace it. At first, he had trouble convincing people it would not be exploitative.
"It's been hard to get the support I need," he said last month.
Now that the show has aired several espisodes, Gaskin said reaction has been positive. And he said he hopes to take the show weekly in February or March.
"There is enough content to run the program weekly," he said.
Q Television is also set to expand its programming this year, including Good Morning Gay America, which will air live, every weekday for two hours starting at 9 a.m. EST (6 a.m. PST) in February. The show will be hosted by two co-authors with an additional 25 news correspondents located throughout the country contributing to the show.
Its travelogue show Q on the Move, hosted by former daytime soap star Nick Oram, will be in San Francisco later this month to shoot two episodes about the local gay scene. Oram already taped segments on Los Angeles, Seattle, and Wahsington, D.C. As host of one of the channel's signature programs, Oram has also become a spokesman for Q Television.
In a phone interview while shooting the D.C. program in December, he said he opted to take a chance with the fledgling network in order to reach LGBT youth in cities and towns that are not as welcoming as San Francisco.
"I want to reach that boy or girl in the Midwest or wherever who's having gay thoughts or is closeted and doesn't realize what it is like in the rest of the country and world and isn't truly connected to the rest of the world," said Oram, who had a recurring role in the NBC soap Passions in 2002. "I want them to know it is okay to be gay and that they don't have to be identified with the drag queen walking down a Pride parade. You can be a functioning, young male adult living a fairly normal lifestyle."
The channel also airs other original shows, including Women on Women, a women's talk show covering subjects of interest to all women - straight, bisexual, and lesbian - and In Foqus, a biweekly biography series featuring celebrities, gay icons, and gay topics.
"As far as programming, we want to be different - and entertaining. We want to the gay Fox," explained Olsen.
In December, Chicago organizers of Gay Games VII signed a contract with Q Television Network granting the new gay network television, radio, and Internet broadcast rights in a deal valued at more than $3.2 million. During the sports and cultural festival, set to take place July 15-22, 2006, Q Television will unscramble its signal to give broadbased access to live an dtaped coverage of the ceremonies and sporting events.
The deal - $1.7 million in cash plus more than $1.5 million in advertising and programming benefits - is the largest-ever sponsorship of an LGBT event, said Gay Games organizers.
"Our partnership with Q Television will ensure international visibility for the Gay Games movement throughout the next two years," said Tracy Baim, Chicago Games Inc. co-vice chair, in a statement announcing the deal.
For more information on programming and subscriptions visit www.qtelevision.com.
AI
