OutTV (Canada)
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OUTtv is a
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specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targete ...
and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities. The network is owned by OUTtv Media Global Inc., majority owned (51%) by Ronald N. Stern through OM Acquisitions.


History


As PrideVision

The channel was launched on September 7, 2001 as PrideVision TV. Owned by Headline Media Group, it was Canada's first 24-hour cable television channel targeted at LGBT audiences. It was also the second LGBT-focused channel to be established in the world, after the Gay Cable Network in the U.S., which shut down in 2001. PrideVision TV was one of 21 digital specialty services that were granted a Category 1 license by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...
(CRTC) on November 24, 2000; all digital cable and direct-broadcast satellite providers would be obliged to carry the network in their lineup. Headline Media Group owned 70.1% of the licence, while
Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Los ...
owned the remaining interest. In February 2001, before the channel was launched, Alliance Atlantis sold its entire interest in the licence to Headline Media Group, which became the sole owner of the licence. The network launched with a lineup of lifestyle and general entertainment programming, consisting of dramas, comedies, feature films, documentaries and talk shows during the day and in
prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
, as well as
pornographic films Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...
nightly after 12:00 a.m.
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
. As PrideVision, the channel maintained a national advisory committee to provide input and feedback on the station's programming and its effectiveness at serving LGBT communities."National advisory council to guide PrideVision programming". ''Broadcaster'', February 18, 2002. The committee included businessman and activist Jim Deva, '' Outlooks'' publisher Roy Heale, Egale Canada executive director John Fisher, Suzanne Girard of Divers/Cité, Carmela Laurignano of Evanov Communications,
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
mayor Glen Murray,
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
city councillor Kyle Rae, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes, Ruby Hamilton of PFLAG and Halifax businesswoman Shelley Taylor.


Carriage difficulties

PrideVision had considerable difficulty building an audience in its early years, due primarily to its pornographic programming: the network did not have a
timeshift channel A timeshift channel or time-shift channel (sometimes referred to as a +1 channel) is a television channel carrying time-delayed reruns of its "parent" channel's programming. This channel runs alongside its parent: the term ''timeshift'' does not ...
for the West Coast, which led to PrideVision's adult content airing as early as 9:00 p.m. in the
Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...
. As such, the channel was marketed by many television providers as a standalone, premium service adult channel, rather than in a bundle with other specialty services, considerably reducing the number of potential subscribers. The channel also faced particular resistance from
Shaw Cable Shaw Communications Inc. was a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian telecommunication, telecommunications company which provided telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. The company was founded in 1966 as Capital Cable Televisio ...
, the largest cable television provider in
Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...
, which was accused of constraining the availability of PrideVision during the channel's first few months in operation. During a three-month-long free preview period that was mandated by the CRTC to help launch the slate of new digital specialty channels that had launched at that time, Shaw offered the channel on a "request-only" basis, requiring viewers to go through multiple menus and to call the provider, being charged 1 cent to be able to view PrideVision. This process was not required for any other similarly-licensed specialty channel. PrideVision took its concerns to the CRTC, who sided with the network and ordered Shaw to properly offer a free preview of PrideVision to its customers. Mounting issues with distribution, disputes with television service providers, slow growth among digital channels industry-wide, and criticisms around providing a weak mix of programmingGays Snub Pridevision
Windy City Times; 2003-04-23
all combined to affect PrideVision; it was losing a considerable amount of money. The channel's subscriber base grew much more slowly than expected, with only roughly 20,000 subscribers by the end of 2002 compared to channels such as IFC, which had over 520,000 subscribers in the same time period. To help grow its subscriber base, PrideVision offered another free preview period to its distributors, and launched an advertising campaign comparing this business situation to impotency. Many in the gay community interpreted this as the company blaming them for the channel's problems, although the owners denied this. Despite this, PrideVision's subscriptions did increase slowly. In an effort to reduce its losses, staff at PrideVision were cut from 25 to 10, most of its original programming was dropped, and the street-level studio on Church Street in Toronto was closed in December 2002.


Sale, split, and re-launch as OUTtv

On December 3, 2003, Headline Media Group announced that it was selling a majority interest in PrideVision to 6166954 Canada, Inc., a consortium led by broadcaster William Craig. Craig would own the majority share in the company and act as managing partner, while Pink Triangle Press and various other independent production companies and investors held minority stakes. Headline Media retained a minority stake in the company. The transaction was finalized later in 2004. In September 2004, 6166954 Canada submitted an application to the CRTC for a new premium service, which would be devoted to gay adult programming. In November, PrideVision expanded its adult programming—now branded with the
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
-tinged monicker '' Hard on PrideVision''—into primetime (from 9:00 p.m.—6:00 a.m.
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...
), in preparation for the expansion of the
block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
into a 24-hour service, alongside a non-adult network tentatively named "Glow TV". In February 2005, it was officially announced that PrideVision would drop its adult programming and re-launch as OUTtv in March 2005, alongside the launch of the standalone Hard on PrideVision channel. Its license was approved on March 4, 2005. Craig explained that the removal of adult programming would make OUTtv more attractive to television providers and improve its distribution, and the narrower focus would allow the two networks to expand their lineups with more programming of interest to the LGBT community. Hard on PrideVision was expected to launch on April 7, 2005, but the launch was delayed to April 12 due to difficulties gaining carriage. Concurrently with the official launch of Hard, PrideVision was re-branded as OUTtv, with a 24-hour lineup of general entertainment and lifestyle programming. Even with the launch of Hard and the removal of all adult content from the newly renamed OUTtv, the channel was still facing resistance from Shaw Communications and its national satellite television service, Star Choice. Both distributors wanted to continue packaging OUTtv as a standalone premium service rather than a general interest specialty channel, which most other major television providers had done. OUTtv filed a complaint with the CRTC; however, the parties settled their disagreement before the matter was taken to a hearing before the CRTC and had agreed on a packaging deal. A similar deal was made with
Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...
later that year.


Acquisition by Shavick Entertainment

On July 19, 2006, Shavick Entertainment, a film and television producer based in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, announced it would acquire the majority interest in both OUTtv and Hard on PrideVision from William Craig. Shavick also announced plans to rename OUTtv, upgrade the technology infrastructure, and provide a wider variety of programming to the channel. Shavick listed its Hollywood-based partner Regent Studios, owners of American LGBT channel here!, as a major content provider to the channel. In 2008, the channel ended its long-standing dispute with Shaw Cable, securing an agreement that would see the channel marketed and distributed in the same package as other Category A digital channels. On December 3, 2009, the CRTC approved an application that would see HardTV sold and spun off into its own company, 4510810 Canada Inc., a company owned by Pink Triangle Press (55%) and Peace Point Entertainment (45%). The transaction closed at a later date. On May 23, 2012, OUTtv announced that it had passed 1 million subscribers, and would launch a high-definition feed on July 2, 2012. Concurrently, the network also introduced a new logo and refreshed on-air branding. The HD simulcast feed was launched on July 2, and the new website was launched on January 17, 2013. In December 2012, Shavick Entertainment purchased Pink Triangle Press's 24.94% interest and Peace Point Entertainment Group's 15% interest in the channel. 125x125px, Logo from 2012 to 2021. Under Shavick's management, the channel has seen significant increases in its subscriber base, going from just 185,000 subscribers when they first purchased the channel to over 1.2 million in 2008. OUTtv would become a partner in Wolfe Video's GayDirect, a premium subscription channel for LGBT content on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, during this period."Gay-and-lesbian TV channel goes global"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', May 30, 2013.
OUTtv's improved ratings have been attributed to domestic airings of
Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...
's ''
RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
''."OUTtv triples AMA ratings during free preview"
''Media in Canada'', June 2, 2014.
The channel would also produce aftershow features for ''Drag Race'', with Richard Ryder in character as drag queen Wilma Fingerdoo. OUTtv has also seen ratings success with original drama series '' Sex & Violence'', created by Canadian film director Thom Fitzgerald. In 2013, the channel applied to the CRTC to have its
Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...
commitment reduced from 49 to 35 per cent of revenues."Stuck on the gay CanCon TV treadmill". ''
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.
'', May 4, 2013.
According to chief operations officer Bradley Danks, the library of viable LGBT-themed Canadian programming is limited enough that the channel has sometimes had to rely on repeat airings of programming from other networks, such as the talk shows '' 1 Girl 5 Gays'' and '' Steven & Chris'', on "not obviously gay" programs such as '' The New Addams Family'', and on overscheduling multiple airings of the same programming, to meet its licensing obligations. A nationwide free preview period in March 2014 saw OUTtv achieve fully 300 per cent higher ratings than the same month in the previous year, and led to a rise in new subscriptions in the months following the preview.


Ronald N. Stern acquisition; expansion

In November 2016, the CRTC approved the sale of the channel from Shavick Entertainment and the other minority owners to a new company, OM Acquisition. OM is owned and controlled by Ronald N. Stern, who is also president of Stern Partners, a conglomerate whose other holdings include a share in the ''
Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...
''. It was revealed through CRTC filings that the new owners intend to purchase additional channels, including international channels, and launch an online streaming service. Media reports revealed on January 11, 2017, noted that the agreement to purchase the channel closed in December 2016 and that the new owners of OUTtv would shift focus from the specialty channel to its
streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
, OUTtvGO, citing positive audience trends for adopting online television services and sagging cable subscription numbers. The television service was expected to close at a later date; however, the company revealed that the channel would remain on the air until at least 2020. The agreement was later modified to include minority owners James Shavick (18%), Bradley Danks (18%), Phillip Webb (11%), and other minority owners at 2%."New owners, CEO for Canadian LGBT net"
''TBI Vision'', January 12, 2017.
In June 2019, OUTtv and
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...
announced that they had co-commissioned a Canadian version of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' for the network and the Bell-owned Crave. '' Canada's Drag Race'' was announced to be airing on both services, first premiering on Crave on July 2, 2020. As part of the deal, OUTtv and Crave also share Canadian rights to the franchise, airing episodes of the U.S. and British version on their platforms day-and-date with their domestic premieres. In recent years, the channel has reduced its reliance on acquired library programming and increased its investment in new original content. Initial Canadian-based productions included '' Cam Boy'', '' Fak Yaass'', '' Group Sext'' and '' Call Me Mother''. In 2021, OUTtv unveiled a new logo to coincide with the launch of its streaming service in the United States on
Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...
. American co-produced shows included Jonny McGovern's talk show '' Hey Qween!'', Ginger Minj's cooking show ''Wigs in a Blanket'', and '' The Boulet Brothers' Dragula''. OUTtv's reality dating series '' For the Love of DILFs'', hosted by
Stormy Daniels Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford (born Stephanie A. Gregory; March 17, 1979), known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American pornographic film actress, Film director, director and former stripper. She has won many industry awards and is a ...
, premiered on January 31, 2023, and received mainstream coverage. Following the success of the series, OUTtv announced a multi-year first-look deal with producer Daddy TV, including a second and third season. Expanding on its international complement, OUTtv acquired global SVOD rights to the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
competition series '' Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star'' in 2024. The network will also co-finance the show’s sixth series.


Programming

OUTtv's programming consists of originally produced LGBTQ+ content ('' Sew Fierce'', ''Dating Unlocked'', ''Sugar Highs'' and '' Call Me Mother''), as well domestic and foreign acquisitions. Original American content that OUTtv produced in association includes '' For the Love of DILFS'', ''X-Rated'', ''The Sherry Vine Variety Show'', ''Dr. Jackie'', and
Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...
's courtroom show ''Iconic Justice''.


International distribution

In mid-2006, OUTtv ventured into its first international market when it reached a deal with SelecTV to distribute the network on its lineup in Australia through a package called CurveTV. The package was poorly promoted and discontinued in early 2007 due to a low number of subscriptions. OUTtv expanded to Europe on April 4, 2008, with the debut of a European version of OUTtv in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
through a licensing agreement with a newly formed Dutch company, OUTtv Media Group. The Dutch channel subsequently launched in several additional countries. The association between the two channels ended with the sale of OUTtv (Canadian TV channel) to OM Acquisition in 2016, and each channel now operates independently. OUTtv has since expanded on its own into the European market; in November 2020, it launched a direct-to-consumer SVOD streaming service known as FROOTtv in the United Kingdom and Ireland, which was rebranded to OUTflix in 2024 coinciding with distribution in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland via Allente. In 2018, OUTtv expanded to New Zealand through a partnership with
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
and their
TVNZ+ TVNZ+ (), formerly known as TVNZ OnDemand, is an over-the-top New Zealand television and video on demand streaming service offered by TVNZ. It offers a variety of free content, such as news updates and programmes seen on TVNZ channels. TVNZ+ o ...
streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
. A linear version of the channel debuted in Taiwan in 2025 in partnership with
Chunghwa Telecom Chunghwa Telecom (), officially Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., is the largest integrated Telecommunications company, telecommunications service provider in Taiwan, providing Public switched telephone network, PSTN, mobile phone, and broadband se ...
on its CHT MOD platform, the first step of a planned expansion into Asian markets. OUTtv launched in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
as a month-long experimental pop-up channel, from October 4 to November 4, 2018, on MultiChoice's DStv platform. In June 2020, OUTtv signed a distribution deal with MultiChoice's streaming service
Showmax Showmax is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service that launched in South Africa on 19 August 2015. Its majority owner is MultiChoice, which owns 70% of the Showmax group, while American conglomerate NBCUniversal owns 3 ...
. In March 2023, OUTtv partnered with OpenView HD to launch a full-scale linear channel in South Africa. In March 2021, OUTtv launched in the United States as a streaming service. In November of that year, an OUTtv SVOD streaming service launched in Australia. The service would also launch in Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, and Israel in 2022. In November 2022, OUTtv announced the launch of a free ad-supported streaming (FAST) channel called OUTtv Proud, in partnership with
Fuse Media Fuse Media, LLC is a Latino-owned entertainment company based in New York City. The company's portfolio includes its namesake cable channel and its spin-off, FM (Fuse Music); a streaming division, including SVOD Fuse+ and various FAST Chan ...
. The channel first launched on
Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...
in Canada in June 2023, and has since been picked up for distribution in the US on Pluto, Freevee, Xumo, Plex, Rewarded.tv and TCL. In 2024, OUTtv Proud became available in the United Kingdom on Channelbox, Netgem and Plex.


References


External links

*
OUTtvGo WebsiteOUTtv USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:OUTtv English-language television stations in Canada LGBTQ-related television channels LGBTQ-related television in Canada Specialty television channels in Canada Companies based in Vancouver Television channels and stations established in 2001 2001 establishments in Canada