• by Larry Dobrow , April 13, 2004

Nearly eight months after the debut of its pay-per-view offering on DirecTV, here! TV has announced plans to expand into a full-time premium programming service. The service, the country's first premium channel for gays and lesbians, will go 24/7 on October 1. In addition, a SVOD service boasting 30 hours per month of programming is set to debut on June 1.

The expansion marks a big step in the evolution of here! TV into a multimedia presence. In addition to the TV arm, the company also boasts here! Productions (a movie studio) and here! Films (a U.S.-based film acquisition and theatrical releasing unit). Still, to hear President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Colichman tell it, increasing its availability from the current 22 million U.S. households is perhaps the most essential component in the company's growth strategy.

"We want to be the ESPN of the gay world," he says. "They may not have every sporting event, but they're the place sports fans go to see what's happening."

Given the size and purchasing power of the gay/lesbian market--it exceeds $450 billion in annual sales--the real question may be why an entity like here! TV didn't arrive any sooner. "Homophobia is the natural answer to that. It's a subject matter that's still upsetting to a significant percentage of the population," Colichman says. Also delaying the launch was here! TV's reluctance to roll out without a broad array of content. While the service boasts the country's largest library of gay and lesbian programming, there wasn't enough of it. Also, the quality of much of the programming left something to be desired.

"[The content] isn't out there to acquire, so buying it wasn't an option for us," Colichman notes. "It required a huge time and financial commitment to get the programming that would make this channel worth paying for."

To this end, here! TV announced on Tuesday that it has licensed several content libraries (TLA Releasing and Wolfe Video, among others) and greenlighted 12 original movies and four original series. Colichman is especially high on "Weapons of Mass Destruction," an action series starring martial artist Cynthia Rothrock as a lesbian action hero. "It's like a really kick-ass 'Police Woman,'" he quips. The service plans to unveil its non-dramatic series lineup--which includes talk, style, and movie-review shows--next month.

Presenting a high-quality, tasteful offering seems enormously important to Colichman--no surprise, given his history as a producer of independent features like Gods and Monsters, which won a screenplay Oscar in 1998. "All gay men are not out to redecorate the world," he says. "'Queer Eye' is fun, but it doesn't portray the community as a whole. Most gay couples are just as boring as anyone else: they come home from work tired, they eat, and they want to sit in front of the TV. But there's no place for them to see smart, entertaining shows that reflect their lifestyle."

He considers here! TV's fare considerably less racy than what's aired on most premium networks, and stresses that no adult content will be aired. "As far as a sexuality level, we're a step more family-oriented than HBO or Showtime. We're a PG-13 service."

Thus, the company has experienced minimal resistance from cable operators and satellite services. Of course, the revenue model might have a little something to do with that: here! TV's availability via pay-per-view and video-on-demand means that every order makes the cash register chime. "There's no cost to the cable operators or satellite people-- they like that concept nowadays," Colichman says dryly. "With every transaction, revenue is generated by our partners."

The here! TV audience will be comprised mostly of 25-and-up gays and lesbians with a wealth of disposable income. Colichman believes that here! TV will have considerable crossover appeal as well: "Whether they're gay or not, people like good work. I don't think it matters to them whether it has a gay or lesbian lead character." He adds with a laugh that "straight men seem to be finding some of our women's programming very interesting."

Although the premium channel model doesn't lend itself to advertising, the service's programming should prove attractive to marketers. "We're going to provide a whole new promotional opportunity," Colichman notes, referring to the non-dramatic offerings. "They're designed to promote products and videos, and everything else that is interesting to the gay and lesbian community."

here! TV counts Out and The Advocate as its official sponsors, and the company is advertising extensively in local gay and lesbian publications. It is also on board as a sponsor for most gay/lesbian film festivals, as well as Pride events.