Touting the fourth season of Queer as Folk, Showtime has mounted a multi-million dollar integrated marketing, advertising and publicity campaign.

The network formed a sponsorship deal with Motorola and its cable partners to host screening events in Miami, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Cable affiliates in selected markets have contributed over $1 million in advertising to support the launch on April 18. Additionally, product placement of three Motorola phones, the V600, T730 and V60P, will be featured in this season's episodes.

On April 7, a screening will be held at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco targeting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The screening will feature the Queer as Folk season opening episode in addition to the season finale of Showtime's The L Word.

"We've always had a strong connection with the gay community by marketing with a very one-to-one attitude," said Stephanie Gibbons, SVP-advertising and promotion for Showtime Networks. "We purchased a great deal of media this season and will support the show throughout the year at gay events and with gay partners such as GLADD [Gay and Lesbians Against Drunk Driving] to get its name out there as much as possible."

A corresponding media campaign including cable TV, mainstream and gay publications, outdoor ads, cross promotion with the Third Season DVD tour and a multi-city nightclub/DJ tour support.

Promotion on Queer as Folk fan site at www.sho.com, will include episode guides, weekly teaser video clips, behind-the-scenes content, downloadable screen savers, event listings and community resources for the gay and lesbian community. Fans can also register for regular e-mail updates on the show and shop the online store.

A new advertising campaign developed in house features new artwork and taglines, including "the original comes of age," "Get Folked," "Damn Straight" and "So Gay."

In related news, Showtime's parent company, Viacom, recently reaffirmed plans to launch a gay cable network. Sumner Redstone, the chairman and CEO of the media giant, told analysts and investors last month that a gay network would be worth billions today, if they'd only acted on it two years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Redstone has put Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of Viacom's MTV Networks, in charge of developing a business plan for the country's first gay-themed network, tentatively called Outlet.

Advertisers are currently spending about $500 billion a year targeting gay and lesbian consumers, according to New York-based Prime Access, Inc., a gay and lesbian advertising and marketing agency: an attractive audience since U.S. income for gay households is about 8% higher than straight ones, according to Forrester Research.

Additionally, both gay and straight viewers are flocking to cable, according to Nielsen Media Research, in the 2002-2003 season alone, 29% of U.S. homes tuned in to cable networks.

Gay-themed shows and characters are also popular with viewers as shows like Queer as Folk, The L Word, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Will and Grace continue to entertain growing audiences.

Touting the fourth season of Queer as Folk, Showtime has mounted a multi-million dollar integrated marketing, advertising and publicity campaign.

The network formed a sponsorship deal with Motorola and its cable partners to host screening events in Miami, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Cable affiliates in selected markets have contributed over $1 million in advertising to support the launch on April 18. Additionally, product placement of three Motorola phones, the V600, T730 and V60P, will be featured in this season's episodes.

On April 7, a screening will be held at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco targeting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The screening will feature the Queer as Folk season opening episode in addition to the season finale of Showtime's The L Word.

"We've always had a strong connection with the gay community by marketing with a very one-to-one attitude," said Stephanie Gibbons, SVP-advertising and promotion for Showtime Networks. "We purchased a great deal of media this season and will support the show throughout the year at gay events and with gay partners such as GLADD [Gay and Lesbians Against Drunk Driving] to get its name out there as much as possible."

A corresponding media campaign including cable TV, mainstream and gay publications, outdoor ads, cross promotion with the Third Season DVD tour and a multi-city nightclub/DJ tour support.

Promotion on Queer as Folk fan site at www.sho.com, will include episode guides, weekly teaser video clips, behind-the-scenes content, downloadable screen savers, event listings and community resources for the gay and lesbian community. Fans can also register for regular e-mail updates on the show and shop the online store.

A new advertising campaign developed in house features new artwork and taglines, including "the original comes of age," "Get Folked," "Damn Straight" and "So Gay."

In related news, Showtime's parent company, Viacom, recently reaffirmed plans to launch a gay cable network. Sumner Redstone, the chairman and CEO of the media giant, told analysts and investors last month that a gay network would be worth billions today, if they'd only acted on it two years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Redstone has put Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of Viacom's MTV Networks, in charge of developing a business plan for the country's first gay-themed network, tentatively called Outlet.

Advertisers are currently spending about $500 billion a year targeting gay and lesbian consumers, according to New York-based Prime Access, Inc., a gay and lesbian advertising and marketing agency: an attractive audience since U.S. income for gay households is about 8% higher than straight ones, according to Forrester Research.

Additionally, both gay and straight viewers are flocking to cable, according to Nielsen Media Research, in the 2002-2003 season alone, 29% of U.S. homes tuned in to cable networks.

Gay-themed shows and characters are also popular with viewers as shows like Queer as Folk, The L Word, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Will and Grace continue to entertain growing audiences.