Bill Craig to use interactivity to revamp struggling PrideVision specialty channel

The maverick broadcaster who used the Internet to upend traditional delivery models is now turning his attention to the digital specialty television world with a plan to rejuvenate the ailing PrideVision TV channel. Bill Craig has purchased 90% of the channel from Headline Media Group Inc. for $2.6 million, and hopes to turn its fortunes around by renegotiating existing distribution contracts and introducing new interactivity to help build community loyalty. PrideVision, which serves gay, transgendered, bisexual and gay-friendly audiences, has lost around $15 million since being launched by Headline Media Group owner John Levy in 2001. Craig is acquiring the channel with an asset purchase that he says will allow him to renegotiate distribution contracts that have the channel currently trapped in a standalone subscription only carriage on several systems including those owned by Shaw Communications Inc. Craig says he’ll be turning in PrideVision’s current licence back to the CRTC and re-applying for a Category 1 ticket on the same terms and conditions. The move will put him back at the bargaining table with the same distributors that have previously been the subject of CRTC orders to carry the channel on a priority basis, allowing him to negotiate terms that can sustain the channel over the long term. Speaking with Canadian NEW MEDIA in Ottawa recently, Craig says distribution has been the channel’s only weakness to date. "It was supported by the audience - male and female. It was supported by the advertising community," he says. "John Levy put more money into it than any other Category 1 combined in terms of losses. It did well on programming. The CRTC backed it with that decision to make sure it had a regulatory hold. So what’s missing? Distribution. The cable guys screwed it up." He says he’ll be playing hardball with the distributors. "I know this time ‘round, when these guys sit down with me at the conference table, they’re going to be dealing with a guy who has a visceral thing - it just has to be done…I’m coming at it from a pure business perspective and, yeah, I am gay, but I think John got this licence before it was cool to be gay in broadcasting, and then he locked himself into these long-term contracts." With the previous contracts - some of them for terms of up to five years - set to be revamped, Craig says he’ll have the freedom to add some missing elements to the programming mix, including on the web where he looks forward to hosting more interactive content. While the overall programming mix - from news and sports to late night erotica - is unlikely to change, Craig does look forward to acquiring new studio facilities where he can produce live call-in shows and use multiple live media to connect with audiences along the same lines as what MuchMusic currently does with its popular show RSVP. In its current incarnation, studio space is shared with affiliate channel The Score, and studio times can’t be guaranteed. Craig says new studio space has already been bankrolled. He also plans better coverage of nationally important events such as the Gay Rodeo in Calgary, the Pride parade in Toronto, and the gay film festival in Vancouver. The channel, which currently has just over 21,000 subscribers, can be viable in the small Canadian market, Craig says. He will run with a small staff, as he has done with several regional channels in the U.S. market. An occasional contrarian, Craig says small can be better when it comes to specialty channels. "You know that theory that these things needed these big corporations to sustain the growth over many, many years? That doesn’t seem to be happening…These things seem to be too small for the big guys to handle and understand them intrinsically. I don’t know how a big corporation can own PrideVision, because it’s not something that can be managed. It’s something you have to believe in." Craig first made headlines in Canada in 1998 when he founded iCraveTV.com (CNM, March 20/00). The project took over-the-air television signals from the U.S. and Canada and retransmitted them over the Internet - a move that brought the wrath of Canadian and U.S. broadcasters, the Motion Picture Association of America, and others down on him with a barrage of legal maneuvering. Craig shut down the iCrave web site in 1999, but most regard the initiative as the forerunner of JumpTV.com, which led to political maneuvering in Canada to finally ban Internet retransmission without permission in this country (CNM, Dec. 11/02). Craig invites interactive companies to contact him.

Bill Craig to use interactivity to revamp struggling PrideVision specialty channel

News | 12/19/2003 5:00 am EST

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