News for the gay Community
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Fighting Politics

Edwards says the superstation route is much easier: “Even the big guys—like Logo, which has the backing of Viacom—have a hard time getting into certain areas of the country. It's still a political issue in many markets.” Once WGAY and Pride Nation decide to expand, they expect to hit smaller gay-friendly markets first.

A $641 Billion Market

The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) market is substantial and growing, worth some $641 billion per year, according to the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth and polling firm Harris Interactive. That's equal to the 16th-largest gross domestic product in the world—smaller than Australia and larger than The Netherlands, says Stephanie Blackwood, co-founder and account director for marketing agency Double Platinum. That's why big media companies and advertisers are working hard to get into the marketplace.

Programming Challenges

Still, with only three players—Logo, privately owned Here! and Pride Nation—there is room for entry. “In simplest terms,” Blackwood explains, “this market is totally underserved with regard to media offerings.”

What local programs WGAY will offer has yet to be determined, although Sherwood plans to tap into the wealth of talent in the area.

The station has a deal to simulcast the radio show of a local lesbian deejay, and it plans to produce a gay-themed talk show. Eventually, the station plans on doing gay-oriented local news as well, according to Sherwood.

Programming gay networks is tricky, considering the diversity of the target audience. What single gay men in cities want to watch isn't necessarily what partnered lesbians with children are tuning into.

“You cannot be everything to everyone,” says Jeff Garber, president of OpusComm Group, a marketing and communications firm that collects data on the gay market. “But these programmers need to carefully determine what the widest band of the gay population wants to watch.”

While there are only a handful of networks targeted specifically at gays, several mainstream cable networks are popular among the community. In an OpusComm Group survey, 46% of 6,000 GLBT people surveyed said they watch NBC Universal's Bravo, while 41% of respondents said that they watch A&E, and 37% watch Comedy Central.

Other cable networks that are popular among the community are HBO, Showtime and the Food Network.

Although Sherwood and Edwards take their business seriously, they were nonetheless thrilled to make David Letterman's famed top-10 list on Nov. 28. Among the “Top Ten Shows on the New Gay Television Channel,” Letterman mentioned “Gary's Anatomy,” “Desperate Poolboys,” “Everybody Loves Raymond...Especially Steve,” and “My Name Is Earl and I Like Construction Workers.”
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