The straight truth about advertising

Oceanic Time Warner Cable next month will begin offering MTV's Logo network, on digital channel 542.Logo is a gay and lesbian channel. As an analog cable customer, my first reaction was, "They have more than 500 channels?"  I can remember when even in a major metropolitan area there were only four channels. And one of them was running "Three Stooges" movies. My second reaction was, "What could possibly be offered to gay and lesbian viewers that can't already be found on the other 400 channels, or even on the 70 channels I get?" I have basic cable. I don't even get HBO. But this didn't stop me from having access to "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," "Will & Grace," "Brokeback Mountain," and that grayhair guy in the suit who does the makeover show and folds his hands across his chest a lot. So what are we talking about here? "CSI Key West"? "Desperate Houseboys"? Let me put it another way, by making this about me instead of about gays and lesbians: why would I watch a network that was all about rumpled middle-aged guys with beards that need reading glasses? I can understand why advertisers, regardless of their own companionship preferences, would like a for-gays network -- another way of defining gays is, "single people who, as a result of being single, have more disposable income." But really, one assumes this target demographic is already watching mainstream television. Even there, it seems silly to assume that gays only watch shows with gay themes. Larry King is heterosexual and Jewish -- but watched nightly by gays and goys. His appeal has nothing to do with those two particular descriptions of him. I'm guessing the suspenders don't make much difference, either. The gay cable network is actually but an extreme example of something interesting about broadcast programming and advertising targets. Advertisers target people of certain age groups, or sexes, or marital status. Oxygen is aimed at female viewers. ESPN is aimed at males. I asked a friend of mine who programs a sports talk station why his hosts often talk about subjects other than sports, and he said, "The thing you need to understand, Howard, is that this isn't sports radio. This is guy radio. We can talk about anything that sells radial tires and beer." Advertisers like it a lot when a show reaches ONLY their target, say, guys who drink beer, because that means they're not wasting money buying access to other audiences that won't drink beer no matter how good the commercial is. By the way, if you're my age (I'm 54) you will be interested to know that some advertisers have no interest in reaching you because they believe that most people, by the age of 50, have formed opinions about their favorite brands, and don't readily change their minds.