LOGO DEBUTS ADELPHIA TO OFFER GAY, BISEXUAL NETWORK.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

One show on the schedule is a comedy-drama about the lives of a young gay screenwriter and his three best friends navigating life and love in Los Angeles. Another is a reality program from Canada that grants the wedding wishes of gay and lesbian couples.

So is America ready for a basic cable channel devoted exclusively to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender content?

Beginning Thursday, MTV Networks will begin to find out when it launches Logo, an ad-supported digital channel debuting in about 10 million homes nationwide.

``We decided that since it's the only linear gay channel that will exist, that we should go very broad so our target is 18 to 54 or basically anybody who wants to watch,'' said MTV Networks President Brian Graden. ``Not every show will hit those demographics but we've actually got content in every area so that anybody who's gay will hopefully see themselves reflected somewhere on the channel.''

Graden, who is openly gay, is heading up a cable channel that as a closeted kid growing up in rural Illinois, he ``could never in a million years have dreamed'' of one day existing.

Logo will be carried in the Los Angeles area by Adelphia; other cable companies in the region have no immediate plans to air the network. It launches with several original series including the centerpiece show ``Noah's Arc,'' a comedy-drama that has already gained something of a following on the Web. In the tradition of ``Sex in the City,'' the show focuses on four African-American gay males dealing with boyfriends, careers and other life issues.

Also on the schedule is ``The Ride,'' a first-person look at some of the participants traveling in the annual AIDS/Lifecycle fundraiser; the documentary series ``Momentum'' about lives within the LGBT community; the travel show ``Round Trip Ticket''; and the comedy/reality series ``First Comes Love,'' hosted by actor-comedian Scott Thompson, which seeks to fulfill the wedding dreams of gay and lesbian couples in two frantic weeks.

Logo's programming will also include more than 200 movies that are either gay-themed or gay audience favorites including HBO's Emmy Award-winning miniseries ``Angels in America,'' ``Kissing Jessica Stein,'' ``High Art,'' ``Philadelphia,'' ``Latter Days,'' ``Far from Heaven,'' ``A Home at the End of the World,'' ``The Birdcage'' and ``Six Degrees of Separation.''

``We bought a lot of films that have never appeared on television, some that were never even released theatrically that we picked up right off the film circuit so we have a lot of independent films that will premiere in some fashion or another on Logo,'' Graden said.

Viacom-owned MTV Networks has a record of creating successful niche channels such as BET, Comedy Central, TV Land and VH1. Graden doesn't believe the current political climate, which includes various state referendums seeking to ban same-sex marriage, will make Logo less commercially viable.

``There's a political dialogue that goes on but there's also sort of the cultural dialogue and gay images have already been on television and film for now 15 to 20 years,'' he said.

Logo still remains something of an unknown entity since the channel did not provide much in the way of an up-front presentation this spring, an opportunity for programmers to show potential advertisers their upcoming slate of shows.

``Most large corporations have a policy of wait-and-see when it comes to new media, any new TV show,'' said Howard Buford, CEO of Prime Access, a New York-based company specializing in ethnic and gay advertising. ``That creates a strong opportunity for those willing to commit from the very beginning.''

In building an advertising base, Buford suggested that the network initially focus on key categories in which the consumption by gays and lesbians is high: travel, financial services, automotive and luxury items.

``The important thing to remember is that gay and lesbians are part of the general market,'' Buford said. ``The key to the long-term viability of Logo is for media buys to the general market to incorporate Logo as part of their general market reach.''

Logo comes a year and a half after the debut of Here! TV, a pay channel with six original series on the air and an extensive library of gay and lesbian films. Here! TV plays in 45 million homes either as video-on-demand, as it does locally on Time Warner cable, subscription-on-demand, or as a linear pay channel, according to Paul Colichman, CEO and co-founder.

``(Logo's) challenge is to have a channel that has crossover appeal and that's a difficult tightrope,'' Colichman said. ``They have a hard road but they are Viacom. They have a big stick and a lot of clout and it will require that big stick and clout.''

Colichman said there is plenty of room in the marketplace for more than one channel devoted to LGBT programming.

``I consider (Logo) to be, if anything, a helpful companion,'' he said. ``It gives me a place to advertise my service. I need gay media. It also gives me a place to sell my programs after they are off pay television like HBO did with 'Sex in the City' when it went to TBS.''

Here! TV has such programming as the gay detective series ``Third Man Out,'' starring Chad Allen of ``Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman'' fame; the mystery-themed soap opera ``Dante's Cove''; and the fall premiere of Margaret Cho's latest concert film ``Assassin.''

``We've been on the air 18 months and have gotten no letters of complaint,'' he said. ``If there is a mom in Des Moines who doesn't want it, then good news: Don't buy it.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Four African-American gay men star in ``Noah's Arc,'' a comedy-drama dealing with boyfriends, careers and other life issues. It'll be one of Logo's centerpiece shows.

(2 -- color) Bike riders appear in Logo's new series, ``The Ride,'' about participants in the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles AIDS ride.