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The Queer Channel
Earlier this year, Digital Spy reported on the launch of two gay channels, The Queer Channel and Pride TV, both hoping to launch this autumn. With Pride TV now looking like it's not coming out of the closet any time soon, The Queer Channel remains the only prospect still on the horizon, albeit it with a delayed launch date. So why is it so hard to get a gay channel off the ground, and is the demand really there? Joanne Oatts investigates.
There are some that believe that there is no need for a gay and lesbian channel. It is not homophobia, it's just that their view is that the gay community is already integrated into this country, and its TV output. "There are more gay presenters on the TV," they say, "…more dramas and soaps that feature gay characters, oh and…Will & Grace. Why do you need a whole channel?"
Well, while things have changed for the better in the mainstream, the gay audience is lacking in the non-entertainment department. Where are the documentaries about gay issues, the lifestyle shows, the gay indie films that BBC2 and Channel 4 could once be relied upon to deliver? 10-15 years ago the two channels were falling over themselves to offer us the likes of Gaytime TV, Dyke TV and Out on Tuesday.
When Channel 4 first started, one of its remits was to target niche audiences like the gay and lesbian community. The Channel 4 of the 80's and 90's was nothing if provocative in this endeavour. It was the first to have a branded gay TV zone, the first lesbian kiss on UK TV (Brookside), it showed Queer as Folk and portrayed interracial gay sex in the FilmFour film My Beautiful Launderette.
Channel 4's Wank Week may be just around the corner, but there has been much talk within the industry about the channel moving away from its "alternative" corner, and focusing too much on reality, makeover and "shock-shows", without much substance to back any of them up.
Which is why the idea of a gay and lesbian channel, produced by and for a gay and lesbian audience is an appealing concept to a huge section of the community. A community that wants to see more than The L-Word or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to feel like their voice is being heard.
Former Five News senior creative and freelance designer at ITN, Colin Fallesen, is the man behind The Queer Channel, which plans to launch next year. Why does he feel there is a gap in the market? "A lot of these series are not made for a gay audience, they're gay content for a straight audience. Where are the documentaries, where are the news stories, the history stories, the dramas featuring gay characters where it's just a part of their life, not the main focus of the programme?"
"It’s a very importance social difference we're talking about here - the presentation of people. France and Italy both have their own gay channels and the US as well. And seeing as the UK has the biggest single gay population outside of North America, we should really have one."
The US do have not just one, but two gay channels, which may come as a surprise. The ad-supported Logo, which is owned by Viacom's MTV Networks, has been going since June 2005. The other is Here!, a subscription-based service from which The Queer Channel will make a lot of its US acquisitions. It launched in 2002 and includes a lot of dramas and TV-film content.
So why in a country currently as right-wing as the US can they make it work and not us? Robin Crowley, programme controller of digital station GaydarRadio, says the reason is money. "It's all about 'monetising.' That's the bottom line. In the States, being gay is almost illegal. But you can make money out of it. In the UK, it's totally legal, but advertisers do not directly target the gay and lesbian community."
Luckily for The Queer Channel the response to the channel by advertisers has been positive. There has been some cynicism however, from people they are trying to advertise the actual channel with, because of previous difficulties with companies attempting to launch gay channels. "It's created quite a lot of difficulties for us, as these companies have gone under without paying, and so it naturally makes people very suspicious," says Fallesen. "But we're doing everything above board, as we've always done things, and so people see that, and then they can trust us."
The station has been in planning for two years and Fallesen has assembled an experienced team, with former BBC, Channel 4 and Sky personnel on board. The company is in talks with Sky and NTL and is hoping to negotiate a deal with BT Movio and BT Vision to offer the channel on even more platforms. No launch date has been set as the company is still looking at routes for funding. "We've been looking for investment since February, and we've had some very positive feedback from Sky," says Fallesen. "The advertising revenue is not there to have any more for commercial advertisers, so we're having to come up with new ways - sponsorship, strand sponsorship, and advertising online. We're trying to create a modern, forward thinking company in an environment which is changing so fast," he adds.
In terms of content, The Queer Channel will comprise about 60% acquisitions including movies sourced from gay and lesbian film festivals. The channel is also in talks with a number of well known names about appearing on the channel. Queer Eye's Julian Bennett, astrologer Russell Grant, presenter Rob Butler and psychic Colin Fry are names that have been mentioned.
So does Fallesen think it's key to have an all-gay team working on the channel? "This cannot be done by people who don't exist in the community. The gay population is very cynical about outside people trying to come and take the 'Pink Pound.' For us as a gay-managed company, we want to be putting a lot of money back into the community with community programming and fundraising."
One way to survive as a broadcaster in the gay 'niche' is to focus on one part of gay social life: music. In July, the Chart Show Channels-owned Flaunt TV changed from a mainly pop-based hits channel to a music channel marketed at a gay audience. Fallesen says: "It's funny you say marketed, as most people don't even know Flaunt exists. One of the reasons we think we're going to do well is that so far all the people we currently have working for us are gay - they know how to access the market." Flaunt TV has decided to go the niche route, but is it really offering something the audience want and in the right medium?
Robin Crowley of GaydarRadio thinks it’s a lot easier to offer a niche on radio than on TV. "I think it's easier to find a music niche on radio and try and make it popular because you can have access points. We’re a dance music station aimed at gay men and women, but it's far easier for us to play the less commercial side of dance music and intersperse that with dance remixes of Kylie and Madonna."
Digital station GaydarRadio, which has 1.25 million listeners and celebrates its fifth birthday next year, started off as "background music" to people chatting online at the station's sister brands, GaydarGirls and GaydarBoys. Two years ago the station acquired its DAB digital licence and its output changed to reflect a more UK centric station. More recently the station has changed its music policy to focus on dance music and be aimed towards a younger audience.
Like many, Crowley is unsure whether the UK needs a gay TV channel. "In the UK, the gay and lesbian society is so integrated, so there isn't that need for a specific channel. With the music you can tune in and tune out. No one else is playing the sort of music we are playing 24 hours a day. We are also the only 24/7 voice for the community, which I hope in some way we reflect."
Like The Queer Channel hopes to do, GaydarRadio runs campaigns of particular interest to the community, like World Aids Day and a campaign encouraging people to report gay hate crimes. "We don't force it down anybody's neck. Its about people's choice," Crowley explains.
The signs look good for The Queer Channel if it offers the range of programmes it promises and, hopefully, gets the funding required to get the station off the ground and provide a quality service. Its only battle will be to convince a large majority of its own target audience that what it offers is something different to what they get elsewhere. Only time will tell.
Visit GaydarRadio at gaydarradio.com and The Queer Channel at theqc.tv.
