First TV channel for gay men to go on air in Germany

Germany’s first television station for gay men will go on air this week offering entertainment and news with homosexual themes via satellite and cable, the new TIMM channel said on Friday.

The line-up will include popular series such as “Queer as Folk,” “The L-Word” and “Absolutely Fabulous” dubbed into German as well as documentaries on gay stars or celebrities who are big in the gay community such as Rupert Everett, Susan Sarandon and Liza Minnelli, the station said in a statement.

With the slogan “We love men,” TIMM said it was aimed at the estimated 3.6 million gay men who live in Germany, and also hoped to draw their family and friends, lesbians and a few “metrosexuals”. “TIMM enriches the existing television landscape with programming from and by the target group - simply for everyone who loves men,” it said. “The highly positive feedback from the target group in the last 12 months has shown us how high the demand is for tailored information, entertainment and service.”

The channel also promises to tackle hard-hitting issues such as the discrimination faced by Muslim gays and the persecution of homosexuals under Adolf Hitler.

TIMM, produced by German production company Deutsche Fernsehwerke, noted it targeted a demographic popular with advertisers: men with relatively high disposable income.

The channel will be viewable in about 15 million German households via digital television every night from 6 pm until midnight and later at weekends.

Source: Media Network, AFP