New York, N.Y. – Sirius launched the first 24-hour radio station specifically aimed at the gay/lesbian community on its satellite radio service yesterday.
The station, OutQ, will deliver news, talk, and entertainment aimed at the 15 million member gay community.
Larry Rebich, vice president of programming and market development for Sirius said it hopes the service will attract ‘tens of thousands’ of additional users. OutQ is in line with Sirius’ basic programming strategy, he said. ‘Sirius looks to serve the most diverse audience possible including those that have been under-served by traditional music and entertainment programming.’ He cited Sirius’ new artist program as an example.
Harvey Fierstein, now performing on Broadway in Hairspray, said at a news conference, he hoped the channel would become a ‘town square’ for the gay/lesbian community. ‘We need a town square. There is none. The opportunity for this to become that is immense.’
Sirius said that the gay community would self promote the channel.
