A new FREE Gay TV Station is Coming Soon!
Get ready for even more gay's on TV coming soon, espeically if you live in Florida. I wanted to share this recent press release about the debut of a new television station aimed at the GLBT audience.
Located in Key West, WGAY-TV will be the first, over the air, free gay TV station in the country.... and online at http://wgay.tv. WGAY-TV will launch live on-line at 12AM on January 1, 2007, offering free programming accessible from anywhere in the world? WGAY-TV will also be expanding to cable systems across the U.S. in 2007, with its initial launch exclusively on Key West cable systems.
"Our goal is to offer a variety of free programming both online and through local cable affiliates, that will appeal to the diverse gay and lesbian population." Said Jason Sherwood, General Manager & Co-Founder of WGAY-TV.
Sherwood added, "It's exciting for us to create the concept that gay and lesbian vacationers in Key West will have a local network dedicated to them." "A station they can watch from the comfort of a hotel room on their Key West vacation or back at home when they go online."
WGAY-TV will be developing and creating original material that is fun, positive and entertaining to everyone visiting key west and abroad. The station will interchange original programming produced in Key West, as well as, featuring content from Pride Nation?s extensive library of programming.
Continued Sherwood, "We feel offering this added content will help brand the networks birth here in Key West."
Key West is one of the top destinations for Gay and Lesbian tourists, with Gay consumers spending $55 billion a year on travel, Studies have estimated that the adult GLBT community has a total economic spending power of more than $641 billion per year, according to Wietck Combs (2006).
It has also been found that for every one dollar invested in gay tourism marketing, $153 was returned in direct economic spending in shops, hotels, restaurants and attractions (Community Marketing Inc. 2006), making the GLBT community a viable niche audience for travel and entertainment.
WGAY-TV, America's First Free Gay Station, was established in 2006 by Burt Sherwood and Jason Sherwood, General Manager of WGAY-TV. Currently available online at http://wgay.tv, offering a wide variety of original and acquired programming, dedicated to the world's largest gay and lesbian audience and lovers of the southern most point, Key West.
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Since I don't reside in Key West, for now I have to watch this on-line if I want to see it. I only hope Directv will pick up the service like they did with Logo when it first came out. So will there be room on the dial for another gay tv station (there's a sentence I never thought I'd say...)?
It is good to see so many 24 hour gay stations emerging, I just hope it has enough decent content to sustain it. I like Logo, but it seems like they show the same programs over and over again sometimes. But it is nice to know the channel exists and I for one do not want to see it (or any of them) be removed from the airwaves. So I wish WGAY TV the best of luck and I hope I'll be able to watch it on a TV set in my house soon!
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And not to miss out on the fun, The Late Show With David Letterman poked a little fun at this announcement with their famous Top Ten list. So enjoy:
Top Ten Shows On The New Gay Television Channel:
10. "How I Met Your Brother"
9. "Gary's Anatomy"
8. "Desperate Poolboys"
7. "Everybody Loves Raymond...Especially Steve"
6. "The King Of Queens"
5. "Not-So-Smallville"
4. "I Dream Of Gene"
3. "Gays Of Our Lives"
2. "My Name Is Earl And I Like Construction Workers"
1. "His Deal Or No Deal"
