Coming out with a new channel

Nickelodeon for kid audiences. MTV for teen and young adult audiences. Black Entertainment Television for black audiences. Lifetime for women. Is there an audience missing? Why not a channel for gay audiences?\nMTV and Showtime are looking to create the first channel aimed at gay audiences. "We see this as the next step in what a television network is supposed to be," Betsy Frank, the executive vice president of research for MTV Networks, told The New York Times Jan. 10. Television networks were working toward the idea of a channel directed at gay viewers after the presence of gay characters increased in appearance on television shows, including Showtime's "Queer as Folk" and NBC's "Will and Grace." But the channel itself will be more than just sitcoms with gay characters.\nThe channel, which has not been presented yet to cable systems, would be a pay channel like HBO, except cheaper. The channel would show films, news programs, original series, talk shows and comedy shows. One might wonder what the content of a gay talk show or comedy show would be and if there would be a difference between NBC's Nightly News and the news shows on the proposed gay channel. But if you think about it, this channel will happen sooner or later. With people being more accepting of homosexuality and bisexuality, the channel seems no different than a channel like Nickelodeon, with shows that cater to kids' tastes.\nWith the success of the other channels intended for specific audiences, the proposed gay channel should be successful. Mark Greenberg, the executive vice president for business development at Showtime, anticipates a channel for gay viewers to be a success, according to The New York Times. Not only did he say the gay audience was highly loyal, but "Queer as Folk" has "twice as high a rating as anything else in prime time on Showtime." Gay viewers occupy 6.5 percent of all television households, and since the late '90s, "gays have been a driving force in pop culture," Greenberg said. Gays and lesbians make up a large part of the population, so there is no reason not to have a channel catering to their tastes, just as MTV caters to teen and young adult audiences.\nBack in the '80s, when MTV was born, advertising was done specifically for the new channel. Teenagers all over America were glad to have a channel made especially for them, with shows they wanted to watch. Although adults may argue that what is airing on MTV is not appropriate for younger kids and there could always be a case when the child accidentally switches the channel to MTV when mom's not around, this would not necessarily happen with the proposed channel. It would be a pay channel, and "no one who doesn't want this will ever see this channel," Gene Falk, senior vice president for the MTV digital media group, said.\nThe new television channel could be on the air as early as next year. \nThis will be another milestone in the history of television: MTV, Nickelodeon and possibly very soon, a gay channel.