Gay TV Service To Offer 24/7 Schedule
A GLBT-themed pay-per-view (PPV) television service currently available via satellite has announced it will launch 24-hour premium programming on Oct. 1.
The service, here! TV, will extend its offerings beyond the current three to six pay-per-view selections per month and launch a full schedule of new original series, classic films and television programming.
Starting in October, here! TV will be available to satellite TV subscribers, digital cable users and analog cable customers. As part of the deal, cable and satellite operators will be able to offer their customers individual program PPV service, four-hour blocks of programming or the full network -- all for an additional fee over the cost of basic service.
The service will also launch a subscription video-on-demand service on June 1, which will let viewers buy all 30 hours of the service's programming PPV selections per month in a discounted package. As part of the launch announcement, here! TV also announced it had made deals with TLA Releasing, Wolfe Video, Strand Releasing and Regent Worldwide Sales to show more than 200 GLBT-related films.
Paul Colichman, here! TV president and chairman of Regent Entertainment, said, "We've acquired lots of library product, but that's just a part of our story."
The channel will also air original programming, including "Dante's Cove," a gay and lesbian gothic horror series, and "Weapons of Mass Destruction," a spy drama featuring martial artist Cynthia Rothrock.
The here! TV announcement comes almost two years after big announcements were made concerning at least three separate GLBT-themed channels for the United States. One was the Canadian-based service Pridevision, which announced it was going to establish U.S. studios in heavily gay neighborhoods and produce original programming. The service never got off the ground outside Canada.
"When they didn't deliver I had to work three times as hard," Colichman said. "It made everyone careful and suspicious of the niche." To get around the hesitancy, Colichman launched the PPV service first, which is currently available via satellite.
The other main proposed cable channel, said to be called Outlet, remains in development at media giant Viacom. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone recently admitted that, after seeing the success of shows like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," he regretted not putting the forthcoming network on a faster track.
Meanwhile, Pridevision reportedly signed a distribution deal with Time Warner Cable last year to be up and running in the United States by the end of 2004.
Colichman said he didn't fear competition.
"I believe our community deserves many channels," he said. "We want to support them."
http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2004/04/14/3
Wow it looks like 'gay' really is going mainstream :thumbsup:
Hell they even have some adult orientated comapnies working with them on this :)
Regards,
Lee
