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

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I WANT MY GAY TV
If you want one of those GLBT-friendly networks, you’ll have to ask for it
By Steve Blanchard

Many may say that the GLBT community is too divided, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for three television networks fighting for the attention of that very community.

Q Television, here! and Logo are all networks hitting the cable and satellite channels. Both Q Television and here! are already available in select markets throughout the country. The third, MTV’s Logo, is scheduled to begin airing June 30. The two premium channels and the basic-cable Logo, all seem to be supportive of one another, at least through the media.

“I think all three networks realized what a valuable demographic (the GLBT community is) and at the same time we had to worry about the backlash from conservative customers,” said Steven Macias, vice president of publicity for here! Networks. “That’s the reason here! Is a premium network – you have to subscribe like HBO or Showtime. It means we’re only in homes by invitation. So that calmed some concerns that you’d have with a basic channel which could get some backlash.”

Q Television founder and CEO Frank Olsen’s inspiration for creating his premium network came from what may seem to be an unlikely source – the unity of Christians and the Conservative Right.

“I was sitting around the house one day watching Trinity Broadcasting and watching Jan Krauss begging for money,” Olsen said. “By the end of the week, they had raised more than $40,000. I thought, who’s more loyal than Christians? The gay community.”

Soon after, Olsen began looking into beginning a GLBT television network. The former owner of several gay bars felt he knew the community and knew what it wanted. The evolution toward Q Television began when Olsen purchased a radio station and catered to the GLBT community in five states. He later sold the stations for a large profit and began focusing on the television network.

Logo will debut June 30 in select basic cable markets. The Viacom-owned station – which also owns MTV and CBS – has struggled to get the GLBT network on the air, facing one launching delay already. So far, it has commitments to be in 3 million of the nation’s nearly 110 million television homes.

“Logo will be programmed to the sensitivity of a basic cable audience,” Nicole Browning, president of MTV Networks’ affiliate sales and marketing unit told MSNBC.

Browning admitted there was some initial trepidation for a GBLT-geared network, but expects the network to grow as it enters more homes.

Networks estimate the nation’s GLBT consumers contribute an annual buying budget of $484 billion. Market studies show the average annual household income for GLBT consumers is more than $62,000; 42% own their own residence; 82% own a computer; 83% attended college and a staggering 96% travel for business or pleasure.

They’ll at least tune into television now and then, the programmers reason.

The biggest difference between the three GLBT networks is the means by which they are available. When Logo launches June 30, it will be available in select markets as a basic cable channel – much like its parent MTV and its cousin, Comedy Central. QTV and here! are both subscription services, meaning you have pay for them much like the subscription channels HBO and Showtime.

Unfortunately, all three networks currently remain unavailable for cable subscribers in Watermark’s readership. However, DirecTV and Dish Network do offer the channels – if you ask for them.

“You have to say, ‘hey, give me Q Television,” Olsen said. “A cable company can take us by dropping a government channel and increase their revenue. But they need to know the audience is out there.”

Macias agrees. It’s important for the cable companies to realize that a substantial market may not have been touched yet.

“We’re only on the radar if we put ourselves on the radar,” Macias said. “We have to say, ‘What about me?’ We have to remember that the folks at cable companies may not have a lot of exposure to the GLBT community – if any at all.”

Both executives know that cable companies are driven by money. Cox Cable Co. in Miami has already reached an agreement with the networks and Bright House and Knology could reach that same agreement – if they know there’s a need.

“Thirty calls can make a big difference,” Olsen said. “It will generate interest and in turn, generate money for that cable company.”

Even with the current conservative political climate in America, Macias believes now is the perfect time for networks to cater to a GLBT and GLBT-friendly audience.

“Cable networks like HBO and Showtime have definitely paved the way for us,” Macias said, “But we can’t forget about shows like Will & Grace and Queer Eye For the Straight Guy. Those shows demonstrate that there’s an audience for the GLBT community and the straight community. People want entertaining shows.” W


TUNING IN TO GAY TV

With two premium channels and one basic cable geared for the GLBT community, potential viewers may have a difficult time telling them apart. Here is are the stories behind Here!, Logo and Q Television.



HERE!

Here! Networks was established in 2002 by Regency Entertainment and was launched in 2003. It was the only GLBT network available until Q Television appeared in October of 2004.

“We’re constantly developing and producing original content,”said Steven Macias, vice president of publicity for here! Networks. “It’s all authentic and it’s not censored. On basic cable, you have to walk on eggshells around the stories of our community and the way you tell them. We don’t have that worry.”

Here! produces shows in Canada and throughout the world. The network is expecting to open its newest studio on Los Angeles soon and may film in Florida soon for a new series recently pitched to executives.

“We heard a great idea about a soap opera set in Florida around the swamplands,” Macias said. “It’s a fun and campy show and it looks interesting.”

Here! is scheduled to roll out into several major Florida markets –namely Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors – by the end of the summer.

The Los Angeles-based Here! has recently expanded its New York offices as well. That’s just one of the many signs of success for the oldest of the three gay networks that now reaches more than 40 million homes.

“We’re hiring more staff, we’re successful and we’re making money,” Macias said. “We’re about 18 months ahead of our business plan. I don’t think anyone anticipated our success to happen so quickly. We’re doing our darndest to keep up.” W

For more information, visit heretv.com.





LOGO

Executives at Viacom’s Logo remain pretty silent about the launch of the nation’s first basic cable channel geared toward the GLBT community. In fact, all Viacom would provide is an e-mailed statement issued to several media outlets.

“Logo has two original series that will be ready this summer – Noah’s Arc, about a black gay screenwriter from California and his friends and My Fabulous Gay Wedding, a comic makeover reality show,” the statement reads.

Other than those two original programs, it looks like the network will rely heavily on movies and documentaries geared toward the GLBT community. Viewers can expect to see several runs of Moulin Rouge and Angels in America. Documentaries will include the story of a Chicago-based gay rugby team and the nation’s gay rodeo circuit.

Overall, the network is not releasing much information until the actual launch on June 30. The plan is to approach the business quietly while ruffling as few feathers as possible.

“While there may be some initial trepidation,” Nicole Browning, president of MTV Networks’ affiliate sales and marketing unit, told MSNBC. “Once (the network’s investors) really understand what we’re doing, the breadth of the audience and the breadth of the programming, they understand there is a great business opportunity.” W

For more information, logoonline.com.





Q TELEVISION

Launching Q Television has not been an easy journey for Olsen, who first became interested in television while watching his mother on the set of her own Seattle children’s show Wanda, Wanda from 1953 to 1973.

“The day we announced we were starting the network, Jackie Onassis died and I lost all my press coverage,” said Q Television founder and CEO Frank Olsen. “The first time we launched was on Sept. 7, 2001. That was a bad day because shortly after, no one wanted to talk about gay television for about a year.”

Less than a year after the first launch of Q Television, Viacom president Sumner Redstone announced the plans for a GLBT-friendly network – which has evolved into the upcoming LOGO. That announcement, according to Olsen, renewed interest in Q Television and doors began opening.

“All of a sudden people thought that if Viacom thought a gay network was a good idea, then it must be,” Olsen said. “I was able to get the help we needed to get off the ground and in October of 2004 we relaunched Q Television.

Since the relaunch, Olsen said the network has focused on live original programming. During this month alone, Olsen expected to produce about 225 hours of live original programming covering parades, Orlando’s Gay Day Weekend and other pride events throughout the country and the world.

“We are a family network, so there’s no porn,” Olsen said. “But we have insisted that we remain scrambled so we are not interrupting a family who doesn’t want us. Also, we’re not showing a bunch of movies you can get at any DVD rental store. We’re original and we’re live.”

And so far, it looks like the network will be around for the foreseeable future.

“Our biggest market is in San Francisco,” Olsen said. “Right now we’re funded to break even until 2008. That tells me we’re going to be around for a long time.” W

For more information, visit qtelevision.com.

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