digitalfreaknyc

News:
When the Logo cable channel debuts Thursday on cable television systems reaching 10 million homes, it will make history as the first basic cable channel aimed specifically at LGBT audiences.

Logo is the newest channel from the MTV Networks, a part of media giant Viacom, which also owns the CBS network. Logo will initially be seen on cable systems in 20 U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Logo will air movies, documentaries and original series programs. It is also teaming up with CBS News to present LGBT news stories and headlines.

The first program scheduled to air on Logo this Thursday will be a documentary about the history of gay Americans. That will be followed by documentaries about gay rugby players, transgender actresses, lesbian surfers, gay Republicans and teenagers with same-sex parents.

The network is developing a scripted series called "Noah's Arc," about a group of African-American gay men living in Santa Monica, Calif.

Logo's lineup will also include a reality program about same-sex weddings, hosted by gay actor Scott Thompson, and it is gearing up for the first-ever telecast of the annual GLAAD Media Awards.

Logo will compete with two existing gay channels, Here! and Q Television. But while those two networks are offered on a premium subscription or pay-per-view basis without ads, Logo will operate as a basic cable channel, complete with commercial breaks, available on any cable or satellite operators that choose to offer it.

Logo General Manager Lisa Sherman told Reuters news service that studies have estimated there were some 15 million openly gay people in America, an attractive demographic for advertisers. Companies are already lining up to advertise on the new channel, including travel company Orbitz, carmaker Subaru, mobile phone maker Motorola and Miller Lite.

Logo president Brian Graden told the New York Times that advertisers see LGBT people as a largely untapped market segment. "In a world of 400 channels, there aren't that many underserved markets left. As a business opportunity, people get it," he said.

Anti-gay groups are already criticizing the new network.

Janice Crouse, a senior fellow at Concerned Women for America, which describes itself as a conservative evangelical group of 500,000 members, said it was "unconscionable" to present a positive view of a promiscuous lifestyle that causes "illnesses and diseases."
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Not even addressing the last line, I'm pretty happy about this. I'm just wondering how many cable companies are actually going to carry this. I know Time Warner here in NYC is carrying it but that's a big "duh."

Groucho

Is there a list of carriers somewhere?

Xander

Is this one of the ones that is a premium channel, or is it available to everyone?

digitalfreaknyc

Mine is only available to Digital cable subscribers. If you go to the logo website, you can put in your zip code as well as your carrier and they will tell you. If you don't, you have the option to send a message to your carrier to request it.

Mopower

What???

joeblow69

I get Logo with Charter Communications cable. They stick it in their "big Movies" package, so it's a digital channel up around stars and encore.

I looked at the lineup for today/tomorrow, and didn't see a whole lot that intersts me. I did notice a number of R rated movies, though... I wonder if they'll be edited?

Morf

Sounds gay.

riley_dude

I was reading about this network in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning. They said it may be available to Direct TV and Comcast subscribers this week or soon. I am hoping that turns out to be true as the other Gay networks are pay per view.

digitalfreaknyc

Yeah, my cousin and his boyfriend are both Gay Republicans. I just don't get it. *sigh*

Bill Needle

I actually know some straight people who are Democrats.

Groucho

I'm still trying to find the Logo website. No luck with a google search. Anybody got a link?

joeblow69

Well, duh, isn't it obvious...

The gay republicans are rich, greedy jerks who want more tax cuts, and the straight democrats are poor lazy bastards who want a free ride.

Anyway, back to Logo... Anyone know when more of the original programming is going to start? I didn't see many new shows scheduled for the next couple of days, and I remember they are supposed to have a new Margaret CHo show, a Chelsea boys cartoon, and bunch of other cool stuff.

joeblow69

http://www.logoonline.com

digitalfreaknyc

http://www.logoonline.com/

EDIT: D'OH! JOE, YOU SUCK! One minute!

Groucho

Thanks!

Looks like DirecTV isn't going to carry it (yet).

JMLEWIS1

DirecTV will be carrying it, it will be included in the TC Plus package

Gil Jawetz

Honestly, I wouldnt' have been surprised if they didn't carry it. They are such petty bastards who love complain about all the bandwith they have to reserve for foreign language stations that they leave out stuff that smaller markets get all the time.

But if we really are getting Logo I'll check it out.

William Fuld

I have zero interest in Logo and my cable company is dropping a channel I watch all the time (VH1 Mega Hits) for it.

Groucho

Hmm...when I did a search at Logo's site it said they weren't. But DirecTV says it's on channel 263. Thanks!

joeblow69

That's the POS channel my cable company dropped as well. Yeah LOGO!

William Fuld

Why is it a POS?

joeblow69

Because I don't watch it!

DRG

Yep.

A straight guy question... how many gay males are interested in lesbian programming, and vice versa? Ot transgender stuff? I guess I'm under the impression (perhaps I'm wrong) that a gay man and a gay woman are probably about as different as a straight man and a straight woman, as far as "demographic interests" are concerned. Seems like lumping it all together would be like combining Lifetime and ESPN or something. I suppose at this point the reasoning is "it's better than nothing" or "it's a start", and I understand that. But I'm curious to see how this plays into programming. If they'll lean more in favor of a certain group, you know?

joeblow69

Hmm, I don't know about the rest of the gay male population, but you couldn't pay me enough money to get me to watch the L Word. I have a hard enough time making it through all the gash-knashing on Queer as Folk, so there's no way I'd put up with a whole hour of it. Clearly, LOGO is a channel made for Tivo, so you can just pick and choose the shows that do interest you.

adamblast

DRG-- That's a question that's bigger than any TV station... Gay magazines, websites, political organizations, etc are constantly dealing with the fact that gay men and lesbians have only the slenderest of common threads. We try to form a common political front, but culturally we are very different, and the two subcultures often treat each other warily.

"General interest" gay magazines typically find that it's hot male bodies that sell subscriptions, so they only have a token amount of lesbian-related material. Logo might end up like them-- but on the other hand, since so many straight guys are hot for "fantasy lesbians", Logo may find that they're serving a dual market with their lesbian stuff, pushing it closer to a 50/50 split..