Pay-for-gay content: start-up services Sirius OutQ satellite radio and Here Pay-Per-View offer queer programming for paying customers--and have big plans for 2004.

Two new entertainment services targeted at the gay and lesbian market are off and running: Satellite talk radio service Sirius OutQ started broadcasting on April 14, while Here Pay-Per-View launched on August 29 and plans a dramatic expansion of its services in 2004. Both are counting on gays being hungry enough for programming about themselves to pay for it.

"After the dot-com implosion there were no [gay] radio stations anymore, and for Sirius it was a nobrainer to launch a gay channel," says John McMullen, founder and program director of OutQ, one of more than 100 channels on the Sirius service, which requires a special satellite receiver plus a $12.95 monthly subscription fee. "They have a market cap of $2 billion behind them, which gives us stability, and we have the full support of our Kentucky-born Catholic conservative CEO, Joseph Clayton."

Sirius OutQ plans to expand in January from 15 hours to 24 hours of live original programming Monday through Friday, with highlights rebroadcast on weekends. The OutQ Web site is already one of the top three accessed in the Sirius group.

"Fifty percent of our audience is heterosexual," says McMullen. "I'm not sure I can explain that [except to say] we have a fresh perspective, we're very progressive, and we offer a very professional news and entertainment service. Even people who vehemently disagree with us on the political discourse come on the air--like Glenn Beck, the national conservative talk-show host, who was the first man to confess to me that he had no answer when I asked him how it was that gay marriage affected the institution between men and women."

Gay listeners include "every stratum of the gay community," he adds. "One of the biggest markets we reach out to are truckers, whether GLBT or straight. We have extremely conservative gay listeners, moderately conservative ones, and people so far off to the left that they make me feel like Rush Limbaugh--whose brother, by the way, has been on."

The satellite network Here (which styles its name as "here!" and is sponsored in part by the company that owns The Advocate) currently offers pay-per-view gay-themed movies on the satellite TV service DirecTV, for $3.99 a film. By June, Here officials plan for the network to be available on six more cable and satellite systems, providing 35 to 40 hours of programming a month for one flat fee, plus some free shows. "If will be like HBO, only you can watch the programs whenever it is convenient for you," explains Here cofounder Paul Colichman, former head of late-night programming at Fox. "Our first original series will be here! Tonight, a news and interview program hosted by a gay man and a straight woman that will be at the cutting edge of popular culture and fashion--the things which the Here audience is interested in."

In addition to acquiring rights to films such as Circuit and The Brotherhood, Here is also producing its own pictures; currently shooting is the lesbian horror thriller Witches of the Caribbean. "We will have produced 12 original feature films this year alone," says Colichman, who promises 24 a year in the future. Once at full steam, the pay service will cost under $6 a month, he says, including two original films a month, here! Tonight, and an original sitcom, plus the theatrical movies.

So far, "our buy rates have vastly exceeded expectations," says Colichman. "The community is getting out to support us."

As for OutQ, companies such as American Express and HBO are already sponsors, suggesting a high level of confidence. "We've had 80 to 100 phone calls a day [from listeners]--incredible for a start-up service," says McMullen. "It's validation that this is an important type of content to be provided for the gay community."

Goodridge is U.S. editor for Screen International.