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At long last, Logo
MTV’s gay cable sister network has finally arrived!

By DYANA BAGBY
Friday, July 01, 2005

AFTER YEARS OF planning and promises, MTV Networks’ Logo, the nation’s first gay-themed basic cable network, was set to launch on June 30 in some 10 million homes with a slate of original programming alongside previously released movies and series.

But chants of “I want my gay TV” from some in the nation’s larger cities, including Washington, might not initially be quelled with the network’s launch. Time Warner, the main cable provider in New York City amid other major markets, is set to carry Logo.

David Bittler, Logo’s spokesperson, has just announced that Logo is being carried by DirecTV as part of its Total Choice Plus and Total Choice Premier monthly packages. Dan Fawcett, DirecTV’s head of programming acquisition, said the network was part of the satellite provider’s strategy of providing “a diverse array of quality programming for our customers. Logo is unique and it’s clear that MTVN has developed yet another compelling network that is certain to resonate with its target audience.”

On the advertising front, Logo has signed up numerous national companies for its launch, including Miller Lite, Motorola, Tylenol PM, Lions Gate Films and Showtime Networks, according to a Logo statement.

LOGO FEATURES MORE than 200 gay-themed feature films, an ongoing documentary series, newscasts tailored for gay viewers and original shows and specials in which “LGBT viewers can see themselves and be themselves,” Bittler says.

“TV is a broad medium, and we’re a new conversation to put into the mix,” he adds. “Logo is programmed like any other general entertainment network with all kinds of genres, but ours are gay-themed.”

Documentaries make up a great portion of Logo’s original programming. A series titled “Momentum” is set to air, focusing on first-person experiences of real-life gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. Profiles of a gay rugby team, gay rappers, lesbian surfers, as well as gay Muslims and Latinos are on tap for the series, Bittler says. There are about 20 “Momentum” documentaries planned for the first season.

The network is also home to a new comedy series, “Wisecrack,” and the original series “Noah’s Arc,” a serial drama about Noah, an African-American gay man navigating love and life in Los Angeles with his three best friends. The show has screened across the country at special events.

The channel also dives into reality TV in the fall with “Open Bar,” an original series that follows one man’s coming-out process as he works to open a West Hollywood gay bar. Other original programming includes “The Ride,” a first-person look at some of the participants traveling the 585 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the annual AIDS/Lifecycle fund-raiser; and “First Comes Love,” a comedy/reality series from Canada hosted by actor/comedian Scott Thompson of “Kids in the Hall.” That show attempts to fulfill the wedding dreams of gay couples in just two weeks.

Numerous concerts are to play during the first few weeks of Logo’s broadcast, including shows by the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge. Bittler says movies expected to air early on include “Six Degrees of Separation,” “Jeffrey,” “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” Other films in the Logo library include “Angels in America,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Kissing Jessica Stein,” “High Art,” “Philadelphia,” “Latter Days,” “Far from Heaven,” “A Home at the End of the World,” “Chuck and Buck” and “Fried Green Tomatoes.”

Logo also will present the first-ever telecast of the GLAAD Media Awards, featuring Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Margaret Cho, Liza Minnelli and John Stamos.

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