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MTV Revs Up Gay Channel/Miami Debuts Gay Radio


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MTV Networks revs up gay-themed Outlet

Tue Feb 10, 7:00 PM ET

JOHN DEMPSEY

NEW YORK (Variety) --- MTV Networks, buoyed by positive talks with top cable operators, has begun stepping up the planning for Outlet, a 24-hour network aimed at gays and lesbians.

In development for more than two years, Outlet failed to launch in 2002 because MTV had brought in sister network Showtime to market it as a pay channel.

When that strategy didn't pass muster with cable operators, Showtime bowed out of the picture and MTV repositioned Outlet as an ad-supported, digital, basic cable network.

But with that repositioning, MTV has had to change its programming blueprint to lifestyle shows rather than hard-edged series and movies that push the boundaries of content. Outlet will likely become a part of MTV's the Suite lineup (consisting of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon).

As with the various Suite networks, Outlet's license fees would be relatively modest to cable operators. But in exchange, operators would have to place Outlet on digital basic, avoiding the limited-circulation tiers that would keep the network in too few homes to make Outlet play on Madison Avenue.

Outlet's competitor, Canadian-based Pridevision, has created a different business plan. Marketed as a pay network that would cost subscribers an extra $10 a month, Pridevision has a commitment from a few Time Warner cable systems. And it's negotiating with EchoStar for national satellite distribution to its dish owners.

But before Pridevision (which began operations in Canada in September 2001) gets a launch in the U.S., owner Headline Media Group will have to harvest enough venture capital money to cover everything from programming and marketing to office space and satellite feeds.

Copyright © 2003 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Variety is a registered trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. and used under license. All Rights Reserved.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...themed_outlet_1

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FEATURE: Miami gay radio outlet makes format pay

MIAMI (Hollywood Reporter) - When WPYM-FM took to the airwaves on the last day of December 2001, the rhythmic-dance music outlet owned by Atlanta-based Cox Radio Inc. didn't set out to do much more than reflect the pulsing South Beach club scene.

With few commercials and endless blocks of hopped-up top 40 remixes and underground club hits, "Party 93" quickly found its way into bars, cars and gyms -- a format tailor-made for clubgoers and fitness buffs who comprised the station's core audience.

Then, just a few months into its run, WPYM took a turn.

Interspersed between such songs as Razor N' Guido's "Do It Again" and the latest Madonna remix and ads for Cadillac and Budweiser came a slate of new promos for such events as the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale's Gay Pride Parade and AIDS fund-raisers like Miami's world-renowned White Party.

What was striking, though, was not that WPYM had recognized that many of its listeners were gay but the matter-of-fact way the station addressed it.

This was still more than a year before Bravo and NBC hit pay dirt with "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," a show that has certainly loosened parameters in mainstream broadcasting.

Yet back in early 2002, WPYM simply went about things as if big, 100,000-watt radio stations in major markets had always been the proud sponsors of gay-themed events -- even though it was an approach that most conservative hit-radio corporations had likely never even considered.

Now, two years later, the station continues to earn big profits and strong ratings, while the "gay aesthetic" (as marketing mavens call it) is so seamlessly integrated that few seem to notice anything unique about it.

"This has been a gutsy move," says Sean Ross, a radio analyst with New Jersey-based Edison Research. "Cox has certainly proven to be more innovative."

Given all that has recently transpired in television, should the FM dial be gearing up for gay themes? Has WPYM made a case that bears watching?

"If sales managers aren't thinking about it, they should be," says Carmen Cacciatore, co-founder of New York-based Fly-Life Marketing. "Radio has been behind the curve. They've been cautious. But things have definitely opened up. Gay spending power is enormous. Once there's more clarity and more research, they're going to get that it's just as important as testing the Hispanic or African-American market or any market."

The club-rooted, pure-dance format that WPYM plays is typically either loved or hated -- there's no in-between, no casual fans. But the demographic of those who do tune in is an advertiser's dream. Listeners gay and straight tend to be hip, free-spending professionals who thrive on excitement and are exceedingly loyal to the format -- that is, when they can find it on the dial.

Although the popularity of dance and club music continues to grow worldwide, it often tanks on commercial radio for lack of household-name recording artists, tidy three-minute songs and, until recently, failure to embrace the genre's roots in gay culture.

Analysts point to New York's famed WKTU, which plays a mix of retro disco and current tracks, and Boston's WQSX and Dallas' KKDL, which program a less intense version of the format, as a few that have lately been getting it right.

"If you counted all the successful dance stations in this country, it would hardly add up to 10," Ross says.

WPYM program director Phil Michaels Trueba says the only way to make it work is with an all-or-nothing commitment.

"We take the risks, and if it hurts us, so be it," Trueba says. "We're not gonna be fake about it and only do it halfway. Stations that try and clone this format but only dip their toe in don't make it. This station is not run from a corporate headquarters in Atlanta. We're authorized to make local decisions."

At the very least, WPYM has clearly struck a tone that could be instructional elsewhere, though that was never the intent.

Straight guys Trueba and Michael Disney, the station's vp and general manager, freely admit that going in, they had only cursory knowledge of the gay marketplace and no idea just how much of their audience would be gay.

It didn't take long for them to learn, but once they did, they acknowledge that they still weren't quite sure how best to reach this audience in an authentic manner without alienating listeners and advertisers. Going on little more than a gut feeling, they took their first tentative steps in April 2002, when they accepted an invitation to sponsor Miami's Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

"It just kind of happened," Disney says. "We found it to be interesting, we began to do some things in the community, and it was very well received by all of our listeners."

After the strong response, the station moved quickly in researching and hiring staffers with more specific marketing knowledge.

"It all comes down to autonomy," Cacciatore says, "and props to Cox for letting these guys understand their market. They saw something, they identified it, and they went after it."

Advertisers both sexy and stodgy followed. McDonald's, Bell South, Sprint, Major League Baseball's Florida Marlins, Miller Beer, AutoNation and even conservative local newspapers like the South Florida Sun-Sentinel are regulars.

Just as quickly, the station launched a community-minded Sunday morning talk show, "Issues Over the Rainbow."

The show, which started as a commercial-free half-hour, was recently upgraded to an ad-supported hour in a better time slot and attracts a fairly impressive guest list.

In addition to the local and national politicians who have appeared, Cyndi Lauper, Margaret Cho, Bruce Vilanch and Ian McKellen have all been by. Cast members from HBO's "Angels in America" and the guys from "Queer Eye" also appeared on the program.

But those expecting an over-the-top hour on divas and decorating will be disappointed. Rather, it's a measured, low-key affair about equal rights and everyday life that has attracted listeners from all corners.

"It's just about everybody's concerns, from both a straight and gay perspective," says host Mark Gilbert, a gay father of two teenagers who was married for 10 years before coming out. "I see something kind of magical in it."

Although talk had circulated that Cox was thinking of changing WPYM's format, recent ratings have been strong enough to put that rumor to rest. WPYM leads the market with Latino men 18-34 and ranks third with all men. With a 5.9 share, it now places ahead of WHYI-FM, the market's long-running top 40 outlet.

"People always say we're not mainstream," Trueba says. "Well, you can't get any more mainstream than beating the mainstream."

Trueba says that no matter the ratings, the station also is highly profitable because overhead is extraordinarily low. While there are no DJs, WPYM does employ a group of well-known, mostly freelance personalities who appear on the air occasionally but whose main job is to provide the energy at constant, communitywide promo events.

The station also is far more profitable than it ever was as WTMI, the region's long-running (and only) classical outlet. Although classical enthusiasts were outraged by the format switch, it's unlikely that continuing protests will ever return the station to Bach and Beethoven.

What matters now, Cacciatore says, is to integrate gay themes beyond the dance format into "all areas of radio. If you have an on-air talent who just happens to be gay, you don't have to hit everyone over the head with it," Cacciatore says. "It's just something that becomes part of mixture."

© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd.

02/11/2004 03:52

RTR

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story...0&w=RTR&coview=

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