Viacom's MTV to Launch Gay Cable Network

EW YORK (Reuters) - MTV Networks on Tuesday said it plans to launch a new entertainment cable channel catering to gay viewers, in a bid to snatch a piece of the action from successful gay-themed shows such as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "The L Word."



The music television network, a unit of Viacom Inc., plans to launch the channel, called LOGO, on basic cable by February 2005.

"We want LOGO to be the first stop for gay and lesbian people," Judy McGrath, MTV Networks President told reporters.

news.yahoo.com.../nm/20040525/us_nm/media_mtv_dc _4

MTV executives said programming will be comprised of about 25 percent originally developed shows, with the remainder coming from outside sources.

The network will also collaborate with other Viacom units including CBS News, MTV and VH1 for programming.

Executives declined to elaborate on its slate of shows, which it plans to do this summer at the annual television critics summer tour.

he launch could complicate matters for parent company Viacom as it defends against indecency charges by the Federal Communications Commissionrelated to radio broadcasts of the Howard Stern show.

"We don't think it's indecent," said Tom Freston, MTV Networks Chairman and CEO, regarding the new network. "We're not using profanity, we're not using sex. This will be mainstream programming you're seeing everywhere else with the exception it will be targeting the lesbian and gay communities."

He added, "We think it's a legitimate and growing community."


Let me start by saying, I'm straight always have been always will be, I love women too much.

I know gay people, I have nothing against them, mainly becuase they don't push thier beliefs and ways on me.

I'm not sure about this "gay" channel though... looking for your thoughts.

So , what do you guys think about the plans for the "gay / lesbian" channel ?

Would you let your kids watch it ? How would you explain it to them?

Also, what about the freedom of speech... there is BET, not WET, but now a gay channel, how is that fair ? is it fair?







[Edited on 25-5-2004 by elevatedone]

I wouldn't watch that channel, let alone let my kids watch it. Even though I don't agree with that lifestyle, it's sad to see people wanting to profit off of it.

Considering how small of a percentage the gay community makes up, I don't understand the huge media "thing" about gays. As long as they don't force me to watch it, I don't care if they have a network. I just don't see it making a lot of money, unless they appeal mainly to the popular metrosexual culture.

I went on vacation shortly after starting this thread, just got around to finding it again..

lots of new members since then, so "bumping" to get some more thoughts / views...

Can anyone tell me why they need their own station? Are gays not normal people who watch the same things straight people do?

I've got no problem with it. Would I watch it? Don't know, I mainly watch sports. If they had an NFL pregame show, yeah I might check it out. That wasn't a joke. Let my kids watch it? Again, I don't know, depends on the programming. My kids are familiar with gay people, re: Will & Grace, they and my wife and I don't feel threatened by this, so if there were appropriate shows on, then sure, they could watch it.

See my thing is this... If straight people came out and had a "All Straight All Day" channel or something like that, and proclaimed their channel was only for straight people everyone would be up in arms, freaking out about how bad it is. Also, it's like BET. If white people wanted to make a White Entertainment Television channel, the black community would be like "oh you racist fools!" Etc.

I dunno, I just don't like it.

Well, maybe things are changing? Spike is a station for men. I don't think that would have flown 10 years ago.

Originally posted by intrepid
Well, maybe things are changing? Spike is a station for men. I don't think that would have flown 10 years ago.

Yeah and women have the Lifetime channel. I dunno, I still think theres a double standard, and that minorities can get away with a lot more than majorities can.

Originally posted by Faisca
See my thing is this... If straight people came out and had a "All Straight All Day" channel or something like that, and proclaimed their channel was only for straight people everyone would be up in arms, freaking out about how bad it is. Also, it's like BET. If white people wanted to make a White Entertainment Television channel, the black community would be like "oh you racist fools!" Etc.

I dunno, I just don't like it.

Straight channel? WET? They have those now. They are called NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.

I think is network is like SPIKE, LIFETIME, GAMESHOW NETWORK etc. Just trying to appeal to a niche who maybe don't feel represented. This isn't the GAY PORN channel so I don't know why everyone knickers in a bunch.

Originally posted by curme
Straight channel? WET? They have those now. They are called NBC, ABC, CBS, etc.

I think is network is like SPIKE, LIFETIME, GAMESHOW NETWORK etc. Just trying to appeal to a niche who maybe don't feel represented. This isn't the GAY PORN channel so I don't know why everyone knickers in a bunch.

Well those channels aren't blatantly calling themselves the "White Channel" you know what I mean? I'm sure you do. If any channel came out and called themselves "White TV for White people" or something like that, everyone would be freaking out.

Whatever, I won't watch this channel. I'll put it on block so I don't have to worry about it.

are you kidding me Curme...

we don't have the straight channel and WET.... nbc, abc... etc, so on and so forth...

let's see...

what network is Will & Grace on, not to mention My Wife & Kids, Bernie Mac, etc...

while I do admit, most of the shows on the "network" stations are middle class white americans.. still the other shows find thier way in...

what if we wanted "white" shows on BET, would it happen ?

I can't stand rap, hip hop, music like that, so I really don't know but don't they have white artist on? Like Eminem.

Yes that issue true there is a double standard like BET if black people say hey lets watch come BET no one has a problem with it but if there was a White entertainment television and a white person said hey lets watch WET the black people would be all pissed and start calling him a racist so there are defiantly double standards. Ps I hate it when my mom watches lifetime someone should kill that channel they show the same type of movies every single day! and in every movie someone dies and then people fall in love that channel is the worst thing that ever happened in television history!

i was actually wondering when a gay network was gona come out. i'm personally all for it. dont know if i'd watch it myself, it all depends on what they have for sows. also granted i dont have kids but if i did i woudln't have any problem with them watcing it either. whether or not it will actually do any good is another story, we'll just have to wait and see.

I don't have any problems with a gay channel, although it wouldn't interest me one bit to watch it. but I also think that Viacom is in it only for the potential money that the channel can bring in.

Btw: I'm tired of lifetime too!!! I only looked at it when unsolved mysteries was on, and only when they were showing Ufo's, strange creatures or ghosts...

It's probably about time Gays had their own Network as well (approx 10% of the population in the US packs a lot of economic clout).

Probably one of the reasons why it would be supported and watched by Gays worldwide (where available!) would be because the Gay Community is SOOOOOOOOOOO SICK AND TIRED of watching all those "straight people" in "breeder" situations all the time without end...day after day, night after night....it's sometimes very hard for Gays to REALLY relate to half the situations portrayed on TV unless you always use some imagination to "apply" everything sort of generally to each situation (i.e. translate into Gay-ese).

Can you imagine a world where Straight people had to watch GAY PEOPLE all day and all night on TV week after week after week and where Heterosexualtiy would be denegrated and sneered at by every talking head ("look at those Breeders over there! Disgusting!!") etc.

Maybe Gays should have their own State in the US too, maybe divided down the middle (half for gay men and the other half for lesbians). Well at least there'd be lots of thriving Cultural Arts & Music Centers, Exclusive Universities, lots of great fashion outlets, classic Beaux Arts architecture, tonnes of Museums (e.g. the da Vinci Museum, the MichelAngelo Museum, the Oscar Widle Museum etc.) , and lots of cruisy restaurants...oh and bars bars bars everywhere.

But I suppose you'd have to be 18 or older to live there ! Just a thought....

I say a Gay Country might also be in the offing some day..and why not, there's a State of Israel which was specifically set up for "Jews" as a "Jewish State"---and they're persecuted world wide because they're "different" ---and they finallly got fed up and did something about it...

Now I wonder what country Gays could pick to chase all those breeders out to the border at bayonet point so they could have some living space....?

Originally posted by Amadeus
I say a Gay Country might also be in the offing some day..and why not, there's a State of Israel which was specifically set up for "Jews" as a "Jewish State"---and they're persecuted world wide because they're "different" ---and they finallly got fed up and did something about it...

Now I wonder what country Gays could pick to chase all those breeders out to the border at bayonet point so they could have some living space....?

If more people were more tollerant and less ignorant, by that I mean knowledgable, to gay people and their issues, they wouldn't need a country, they could live anywhere happily.

I do belive that being gay is not natural, let me just say that.

However I do not see the need for a channel such as this. Ok, we have Lifetime (waste of TV space, if your a guy. Only good thing that was ever on there was Unsolved Mysteries), and Spike. Ok these do not cater to a special group, its a broad view-base for men and women.

What bothers me is that if there was a straight parade or a straight TV network, it would be slammed, same if it was for whites. Its ok for blacks to have their own TV channels and gays, but not for straights and whites. Its either we all get our own TV network or we just stick to no special groups tc channels. The latter is the better. And by special groups I mean, Spanish, white, blacks, gay, straight, not a broad base like men and women.

I would never watch something like that, let them watch it.

A bit off track here,but as for gay parades, get ride of them. I don't care if your gay, but I do not want you walking down the road in leather with your boyfriend shouting your queer. I don't care, I don't want to know, and nobody else should.

We have a womans network.....we have mens programming....we have stations geared to the teenager and stations geared to the elementary school age kids........there is a romance channell and a travell channell...even an ANIMAL channell..

Why not a gay Cahnnell?
I say ROCK ON!
If I was gay I would welcome such a thing....it could be comforting in all the stress they have in theyre life...(I dont think people CHOOSE theyre sexuality)
I dont think that IF a gay channell goes on the air and my child happens to see something on it he will want to BE GAY.....lol...
..it wont be a public PORN site lol...there are rules and protocalls. They will probebly show back to back episodes if 'Queer eye for the straight guy'...and 'Ellen'.......and they will show "boys dont cry' and 'the crying game' at night.

People have free will to CHOOSE what they watch on the TV......and just because a GAY CHANNELL is on does not mean you HAVE to watch it.... I think its a fine idea....it could do alot more good than harm...imagine the Gay version of Doctor Phil, THAT would help people......no doubt.