I cannot stress this enough, please read this Pridevision pr from a week ago carefully. The potential here is enormous...
Pridevision's 03/24/05 pr again.....OUTtv Launching April 7, 2005
PRIDEVISION ANNOUNCES EXPANSION AND THE LAUNCH OF A NEW GAY CHANNEL
Subscribers will increase from 20,000 to upwards of 700,000 after April 7th launch
TORONTO, (Canada), March 24, 2005 – Starting April 7th under new ownership, PrideVision will launch a new digital cable channel called OUTtv. On that date, the current premium channel PrideVision will then be known as HARD on PrideVision and will see its hard core gay adult content expanded to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. OUTtv will not have any hard-core adult programming and will be a 24/7 GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Category 1 lifestyle channel that will be included at no additional cost with other digital channels in bundles or theme packages or separately on an ‘a la carte’ basis. Digital and satellite subscribers should contact their provider for details on exchanging a current channel for, or adding OUTtv to their channel lineup at no extra cost.
“PrideVision needed to divide into two channels due to high demand and the tremendously broad range of programming to serve the GLBT communities better,” says Bill Craig, the new President of both OUTtv and HARD on PrideVision. “Because OUTtv will have dramatically increased reach through package distribution going from 20,000 subscribers to upwards of 700,000 over the next few months, it will substantially increase relevant programming for the GLBT community currently not available on any other mainstream channel.
Pridevision/OUTtv is now under new ownership as it was purchased last year from Headline Media Group by a private consortium including Canadian gay businesses making the world’s first gay network majority gay-owned for the first time. The consortium includes a mix of media and television production companies with extensive experience in television and gay media including Pink Triangle Press (PTP), Re:Source Media and Peace Point Entertainment Group. This consortium will help re-define, refocus and re-launch Canada’s only GLBT television network. PTP is the country’s largest and longest running gay and lesbian media group, a not-for-profit organization that has been a driving force in the gay and lesbian community for over 30 years. Re:Source Media Inc. is an integrated broadcast organization that develops, finances and produces high definition television properties for the international marketplace working with such networks as Discovery and VH1. The Canadian company has offices and production bureaus in North America, Europe and Asia, in addition to broadcast holdings and high definition production studios in Canada. Peace Point Entertainment Group is a Toronto-based award-winning independent producer of cutting-edge television content for the worldwide market. To date, the company has produced over 300 hours of television content with distribution in over 25 international markets. Bill Craig, the new President of both OUTtv and PrideVision was formerly on staff at the CRTC and also launched and operated three regional US TV networks for Fox and NBC. “With new gay ownership that truly understands TV and the Canadian gay and lesbian market, OUTtv will soon become an integral part of Canadian gay culture in this exciting and fast-moving period in our community,” says Bill Craig.
NEW PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
There is currently more original programming on OUTtv than any other digital channel. Daily news for the GLBT community will also be a major component of the live and current programming debuting on the network. One-minute semi-weekly updates will soon be replaced with daily information presently not available for GLBT’s on traditional mainstream television networks.
Live news, GLBT event coverage and call-in programming will be substantially increased with the addition of a current events live show titled Time Out featuring topics of interest to the GLBT community. The recent move to the state-of-the-art broadcast facility at Stornoway Communications will allow OUTtv access to a modern studio with the ability to handle multiple viewer phone calls and other interactive services.
New seasons of popular Canadian-produced GLBT programs will return including the GLBT health and sex advice weekly, By Appointment…With Dr. Keith, described by many viewers as one of the most important programs for the GLBT community. A new season featuring GLBT books and authors, Read OUT! will also debut, as well as new episodes of the West-Coast produced series, Way Out West TV. Also Fairy Tale, the unscripted GLBT dating series that gained international attention as one-of-a-kind in the world, will have its world television premier for its second season on OUTtv. A brand new series, I Now Pronounce You... focuses on gay and lesbian weddings, and is hosted by comedian Trevor Boris. The second season of the internationally syndicated Canadian gay travel series Bump! will also debut this year. Bump! was the highest rated show on Pridevision.
OUTtv will also increase its national and international acquisitions substantially, providing a new slate of relevant programming for Canada’s GLBT television audience including the much-anticipated North American premiere of The Big Bow Wow, a stylish and gritty drama featuring 20-something’s in the heart of Dublin, Ireland. More movies, documentaries, sitcoms, talk shows and further seasons of popular programs such as Prisoner: Cell Block H, Queer As Folk, and FortheboysTV will also return.
About OUTtv
Owned by 6166954 Canada Inc, which is a private consortium that was brought together to purchase PrideVision from Headline Media Group. Shareholders include independent television production companies such as Re:Source Media headed by Kevin Fox and Peace Point Entertainment Group Inc., headed by Les Tomlin, president, and co-executive producer of GLBT travel series, BUMP! Another new shareholder with a substantial presence in Canada is Pink Triangle Press, the country’s largest and longest running gay and lesbian media group, a not-for-profit organization that has been a driving force in the gay and lesbian community for over 30 years. As one of the world’s first gay publishers PTP has a long history of speaking across and expanding borders for gays and lesbians. With its award-winning Xtra! gay and lesbian community newspapers in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, PTP boasts a national readership of over 175,000. Shareholder and president Bill Craig is a long-time television veteran who in addition to being a former CRTC staff member, launched and operated three regional sports networks in the U.S. owned by Fox and NBC/General Electric.
OUTtv is a digital specialty network providing programming of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (“GLBT”) community and GLBT-positive viewers across Canada. Originally launched in September 2001, it is the world’s first GLBT network to broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
PROGRAMMING DETAILS
MORE ORIGINAL SHOWS THAN ANY OTHER DIGITAL NETWORK!
Time Out (Weeknights @ 8pm ET/5pm PT, repeat at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT starting May 2005)- OUTtv original production- Exclusive to OUTtv (world broadcast premiere) Time Out will be OUTtv’s new flagship program. The show is a discussion/call-in show focusing on GLBT issues with a cross Canada appeal. Each night the show is hosted by a different host from a different region of Canada.
Fairy Tale Season 2 … Want a Date? A Partner? Even Something Long-Term? (Thurs @ 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT, repeat Saturdays @ 7 pm ET/4pm PT)- World BROADCAST PREMIERE - on OUTtv - Fairy Tale is the world's first GLBT dating series and has received global attention! Watch as Gay, Lesbian, bisexual and transgendered couples compete for dates.
Hosted by actor Nelson Tome.
I Now Pronounce You... (starts August, 2005) World BROADCAST PREMIERE for OUTtv- Hosted and written by Comedian Trevor Boris. A wedding show like none other! This 13 part series captures the nuptials on tape and catches up with the honeymooners three months after the wedding. The show is done in flashback sequence, with the host, the couple and others involved in a late night panel setting. Also includes stand up comedy sequences featuring Trevor Boris. Don’t miss it!
COVERguy (Begins May 3) Exclusive to OUTtv (world broadcast premiere) The search for the next hot male model. Mathieu Chantelois hosts this new six-part realty show shot on-location in a trendy Church Street bar. The show starts with an open call for 40 models that are soon narrowed down by celebrity judges. The winner will go on to win $1000 and a modeling contract with a major agency.
By Appointment with Dr. Keith (Tues @ 10pm ET/7pm PT)- Exclusive to OUTtv- The doctor with all the advice you need on sex, relationships, coming out and more. Features interviews with experts in these and other areas.
BUMP! (Fri @ 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT) - OUTtv original production- EXCLUSIVE TO OUTtv IN CANADA (season two in production) - Bump! travels the world in search of fascinating gay human-interest stories. From sunbelt hot-spots like Miami and Palm Springs to high-energy centres such as New York and London, Bump! focuses its lens on gay and lesbian communities around the globe.
Out in the City 2 (Sun @ 10:00pm ET/7:00pm PT) . Sex. Parenthood. Art. Aging. Fashion. AIDS. Community. The cinema vérité series Out in the City Two invites you to follow the diverse lives of gay Montrealers, as they grapple with the many realities of gay culture and the way it calls into question dominant heterosexual society. Moving, funny, sad, heart-warming and sexy, these stories take you from remote suburbs to the inner city's nocturnal pulse. Join us for this unforgettable journey Out in the City. Second season.
Read OUT! (Tues at 11:30 pm ET/8:30pm PT) Join us for another controversial and thought-provoking season of Read OUT! Hosted by Mathieu Chantelois, Read OUT! Brings you the best authors the GLBT community has to offer. Full of smart, sassy conversation, this show is destined to get you talking, and reading. This season our guests will include: Marni Woodrow, author of "Spelling Mississippi", Thomas Waugh, Kyle Stone a.k.a Caro Soles and many more.
WORLD CLASS ACQUISITIONS
The Big Bow Wow - NORTH AMERICAN BROADCAST PREMIERE for OUTtv - The Big Bow Wow, in association with Mini, is a fast, energetic, contemporary drama that teens and twenty-somethings will recognize as real. It's a thirteen part series, shot entirely on location in Dublin. It delivers a fresh energetic piece, with high production values. The cast are young, fresh new faces and the soundtrack will feature some of Ireland's best and brightest new and up-and-coming bands.
The Gift - (60 minute documentary) CANADIAN BROADCAST PREMIERE -Controversial and uncompromisingly frank, Louise Hogarth's award-winning documentary looks at the alarming trend among many young gay men to actively seek infection with HIV. In revealing conversations, recently infected gay men (referred to as "bug chasers" in some circles) explain the ostracism they encountered when HIV-negative, and how mixed messages found in pharmaceutical marketing actually eroticize having the deadly virus.
The Gay Republicans- (50 minute documentary) CANADIAN BROADCAST PREMIERE- For the first time in history, cameras have gone inside the Log Cabin- the Gay Republican’s club- to produce an astonishing portrait of an organization struggling with its own identity. Through their eyes we look at the gay marriage debate, the growth of the Religious Right and the internal conflicts of the Log Cabin as they battle through the election, torn on whether to support President Bush.
Was Hitler Gay? – (90 minute documentary) CANADIAN BROADCAST PREMIERE- Historian Lothar Machtan created a firestorm of controversy when he published his book charging that Hitler was gay. We follow Machtan around Germany as he visits the sites of Hitler’s youth and explains his thesis and evidence. The film examines both sides of the controversy and reveals shocking new evidence.
Naked News Daily Male (weekly, Sun at 11 pm ET/8pm PT/repeats Friday 11:30ET/8:30pmPT) CANADIAN BROADCAST PREMIERE- If regular news broadcasts leave you cold, heat things up with the men of Naked News Daily Male, the Internet news phenomenon that delivers both fun and flesh. Naked News Daily Male provides the best in gay news and lifestyle programming. It's not just boys in the buff, though; it's international news, entertainment, the latest in fashion, celebrity interviews, music and movie reviews, and the best coverage of the issues that matter to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gendered community. The weekly wrap version of Naked News Daily Male will air on OUTtv and also on HARD on PrideVision TV.
So Graham Norton (Mon @ 9pm ET/6pm PT) - exclusive to OUTtv in Canada - A talk show like you've never seen before, featuring Britain’s funniest talk show host, Graham Norton.
Caribbean Workout (Daily at 6pm ET/3pm PT)- only on OUTtv. - Shot in beautiful Barbados, this workout program covers high and low-impact circuit training, and strength and toning exercises.
Returning Series include:
Locker Room (Mon @ 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT) - OUTtv original production- Exclusive to OUTtv - Locker Room is a half-hour light information/entertainment program dealing with the world of sports through a gay perspective. Hosted by Paul DeBoy.
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