June 22, 2004
GAY TV SHOW
NO LONGER HARD TO FIND
Move helps QTV stay alive and visible!
(San Francisco) —– No longer will San Francisco’s gay community have to miss an episode or favorite segment of
QTV Newsmagazine because they could never find it on the local cable TV system or remember what channel it’s on or simply didn’t have time to watch!
In a move to make the show readily available to local gay audiences, and to help rid the show of it’s “hard-to-find” reputation in the market, producers
of San Francisco’s grassroots-born, only commercial gay television news, information and entertainment program launched an official QTV website that
features streaming video of pertinent gay stories available 24/7 on the worldwide web.
“At least now we don’t have to continuously answer the question of when or where people can find the show or worry too much about whether the show
segments would not make it to air because of fluctuating, show-to-show advertising support”, says Executive Producer Rahn Fudge who is also host of
the eight-year old newsmagazine-style gay television show.
Fudge admits that its an idea that should have come sooner but the past years have been so intensely focused on keeping the show on-air as much as
possible that marrying the concept and content to the internet was not at the forefront of our effort. Besides, he adds, the resources just were not in
place before. Regardless, says Fudge, what’s most important now is that he and a team of volunteers can keep covering the lives and lifestyles of the local gay
market and putting it where the whole wide world can see now. “Naturally, we will continue to seek advertising support for QTV, the broadcast, but at least
this way we can get stories out there and seen immediately by creating a webcast
of the show and its segments”, Fudge explains.
He sees QTV, the broadcast, as more of an episodic effort now that the webcast of the show has been born. “The television broadcast version of QTV
Newsmagazine will still exist but only as often as we can find advertisers who will support the costs of broadcasting it on an episode-by-episode basis
instead of having to stay consistent with what was — at least for us — a cost prohibitive weekly or even monthly
commitment”, says Fudge. Producers hope the webcast visibility will somehow convince potential advertisers to become interested in both the
webcast and television broadcast of the show.
One of the main features of the QTV webcast is a special streaming video window called NEWS OF THE DAY THAT’S GAY! It will be a weekly wrap-up of current
local gay news, information and entertainment stories.
The stories that premiered with the Sunday, June 20th launch of the webcast deals with the stalled jury murder trial of Newark, California transgender teen
Gwen Araujo and highlights of this year’s Opening Night at FRAMELINE’s 28th annual LGBT International Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film
Festival and the city’s sixth annual International Black Film Festival.
“Each week in our NEWS OF THE DAY THAT’S GAY! window the goal is to have a fresh, local hard-hitting news and entertainment report that’s relevant and
pertinent to the interests of our local gay viewers”, says Fudge.
The website will also have an interactive component where viewers can offer their feedback and story suggestions in a special designed QTV forum area.
Right now gay internet-savvy surfers can view not only current news and information but also back segments of QTV and soon an entire half-hour QTV show
will be downloadable.
Needless to say, after more than eight years of trying to fly QTV locally, Fudge and his team is pleased to hear that MTV and Viacom have finally announced
a start date and year for America’s first-ever gay cable television channel. He is also interested in the developments surrounding the newly-announced, Palm
Springs, California-based Q Television Network and whether there is any possible collaboration.
“Of course we are most interested in possibilities with the new MTV/Viacom effort because of the chance to syndicate our show and concept on a national
level. At the very least it would be significant if QTV became a principle content supplier for LOGO (the name of new national gay cable TV channel) out
of the San Francisco/Bay Area market. We are currently developing a formal pitch — towards that end — for LOGO”, says Fudge.