This development provides yet another reason to pass cable choice.
Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone estimates that a “gay” themed cable channel would “be worth a billion dollars right now” — if he had launched the channel two years ago, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Redstone’s comments came in a conference call to investors and analysts on March 29, 2004, where he apologized for putting plans for a “gay” channel on hold, a mistake he says he won’t repeat. He said the channel would have cost $30 million at startup.
He has ordered Tom Freston, chairman and chief executive of MTV networks, to get such a station on the air as soon as possible.
Given Viacom’s program history, Robert H. Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America, says this signals more reason than ever to pass cable choice legislation.
“Viacom’s dalliances with the homosexual lifestyle, both on subscription cable and network television, have always been 'in-your-face,'” Knight said. “Viewers should be given a cut-off switch to prevent this from pouring into their homes and polluting the minds of their children.”
Through its Showtime subsidiary, Viacom has given the nation Queer as Folk and The L Word, both featuring graphic soft-porn portrayals of homosexual sex. On Viacom’s basic cable line-up, the MTV networks have depicted heterosexual activity with only slightly less detail in its original programming and music videos.
Another Viacom network, VH1, announced this month that it would play with the homosexual theme, ordering a pilot show called Gaydar. In Gaydar, a three-member celebrity panel tries to determine the sexual identity of three contestants through a series of supposedly “gender-revealing” games.
Redstone indicated that the “gay” channel, tentatively named “Outlet,” will be an expanded basic offering. Some industry insiders suggest that Viacom will use its “massive clout” to force satellite operators and cable companies to carry it, since those outside of major cities might balk, according to The Dow Jones Newswire.
“This can serve as yet another example of how homosexual activists and their allies in the liberal elite intend to force acceptance of their lifestyle on all Americans,” Knight added.
Advertisers might be equally hesitant to affiliate themselves so directly with the homosexual market. Figures from Forrester Research Inc. show the average U.S. income in gay households is about 8 percent higher than straight ones. However, companies could take a serious financial hit if they offend the traditional values of the majority of their customers.
Meanwhile, Redstone’s revenue prediction is not substantiated by experience. In Canada, PrideVision, that nation’s first “gay” themed cable channel, has yet to turn a profit. That channel was launched September 7, 2001, as a Category 1 channel, meaning it has guaranteed distribution on all cable and satellite systems operating in Canada. “Gay” themed television does a little better financially in Britain, where pay-per-view “gay” TV is available after 10:00 p.m. on Sky TV.
See also:
Bush Gets Tough on Porn in the USA
Viacom Puts ‘Gay’ TV on the Fast Track
Judge Refuses to Jail Principal Facing Child Porn Charges
Broadcasters Hold Closed-Door Indecency Summit
Prosecutors mount attack against adult-porn market
(This article courtesy of Concerned Women for America.)
