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The Channel for Gay America? a Cultural Criticism of the Logo Channel’S Commercial University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 7-14-2008 The hC annel for Gay America? A Cultural Criticism of The Logo Channel’s Commercial Success on American Cable Television Michael Johnson Jr. University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Johnson, Michael Jr., "The hC annel for Gay America? A Cultural Criticism of The Logo Channel’s Commercial Success on American Cable Television" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/321 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Channel for Gay America? A Cultural Criticism of The Logo Channel’s Commercial Success on American Cable Television by Michael Johnson Jr. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Liberal Arts Department of Humanities & American Studies College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Elizabeth Bell, Ph.D. David Johnson, Ph.D. Sara Crawley, Ph.D. Date of Approval: July 14, 2008 Keywords: Advertisement, Programming, Queer, Sexuality, Activism © Copyright 2008, Michael Johnson Jr. Acknowledgements I can’t begin to express the depth of appreciation I have for everyone that has supported me throughout this short but exhausting intellectual endeavor. Thanks to David Johnson, Ph.D. & Sara Crawley, Ph.D. for without their intellectual support, friendship and collegiality I would not have begun, much less finished, this work. And thanks to Elizabeth Bell, Ph.D. without whose direction I would no doubt have been utterly lost. Thank you to Stephen Turner, Ph.D. for taking a chance on me…and thanks to Andrew (Drew) M. Smith, M.L.S. for his invaluable research assistance! Thanks also to my American Studies family –Walker “The Cylon” Hicken, John Crayon, Gary “Fingers” DeSantis, Matthew “The Level 12 Paladin” Arnold, Daniel Belgrad, Ph.D. and Pricilla Brewer, Ph.D. for their unconditional and constant friendship with an admittedly and unabashedly contrarian, irascible, arrogant, academically frustrating, intellectually irritating and socially contemptuous person like myself. And finally, but most importantly I thank my grandmother, Elizabeth, who continues to serve as my inspiration and to whom all my success is indebted to…I love you and miss you very much. Table of Contents Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. i List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv Chapter One: Introducing Logo-“The Channel for Gay America” .....................................1 Rationale of this Study ............................................................................................ 3 Literature Review: The Scholarly Conversation ..................................................... 4 The Television Industry .............................................................................. 5 Logo’s Programming .................................................................................. 5 Logo’s Advertisement ................................................................................. 6 Methodology: A Queer Reading ............................................................................. 7 Purpose of This Study ................................................................................. 8 Chapter Outline ......................................................................................... 10 Chapter Two: The Television Industry & Another Lost Opportunity ...............................12 Business Model: Follow the Money ..................................................................... 14 Costs and Benefits: Television’s Technological Steps and Growth ......... 15 Niche-Marketing: Smaller is Better .......................................................... 17 Representation Model: Follow the Images ............................................... 20 LGBT Visibility: At What Costs? ............................................................ 22 Social Justice, LGBT Activism, and Logo ............................................................ 25 Business and Social Justice: A Match Made in Hell? ............................... 28 Logo’s Self Description: This is Social Movement? ................................ 30 Logo’s Lost Opportunity in the Television Industry............................................. 35 Chapter Three: Logo Programming - Like Taking Candy From A Baby ..........................37 Logo’s Lessons Well-Learned .............................................................................. 37 Noah’s Arc ............................................................................................................ 40 Ethnicity and Noah’s Arc: Searching for Black Authenticity ................... 41 Refusing to Deal with Lived Experience of Blackness ............................ 44 Dealing with Sex ....................................................................................... 48 Masculinity and its Many Performances ................................................... 49 Noah’s Arc’s Contradictions ..................................................................... 51 i Can’t Get A Date .................................................................................................. 54 Broken “Promises” and the Gay Male Aesthetic ...................................... 57 What's Real about "Gay" Reality TV?: Therapy and Surveillance ........... 59 Round Trip Ticket ................................................................................................. 64 Empty Appeals to Kinship and Action: The Cairns, Australia Episode, .. 65 Languaging Commodities and Selling Travel .......................................... 67 Bottom Economic Line: Round Trip Ticket to Nowhere .......................... 68 Chapter Four: Logo Advertisement - Easy as Shooting Fish in a Barrel ...........................71 A Brief History of Television Advertising ........................................................... 73 Logo’s Advertising Revenues: Risks and Benefits? ............................................. 75 Gay & Lesbian Advertisement History..................................................... 77 Alienation vs. Financial Reward ............................................................... 78 Who Is Logo’s Target Market?: an Ideal Consumer Demographic ...................... 79 The DINK Demographic........................................................................... 81 Vanity Ads and Selling Stereotypes ......................................................... 82 Reaching the LGBT Market: Cashing in on Liberalism ........................... 84 Three Exemplars: Selling to/Constructing an Audience ........................... 86 Brand Loyalty and Pink Dollars: Dangerous Results ........................................... 94 Chapter Five: Conclusion ..................................................................................................98 Where We Started vs. Where We’re Headed? ...................................................... 99 Cultural Criticism of Logo with an African-American Queer Eye ..................... 100 Why Is Any of This Important Now? ................................................................. 103 What Does the Future Hold? ............................................................................... 103 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................105 ii List of Tables Table 1, Logo Viewer Activities ....................................................................................... 80 Table 2, Subaru “Shadow” Segmentation ......................................................................... 87 Table 3, Levi Strauss & Co. “Change” Segmentation ...................................................... 91 Table 4, Pfizer “Fashion Victims” Segmentation ............................................................. 93 iii The Channel for Gay America? A Cultural Criticism of The Logo Channel’s Commercial Success on American Cable Television Michael Johnson Jr. ABSTRACT Logo currently holds a self-described monopoly as the “Gay Channel for America.” Logo stands alone as the single most concentrated national-level vehicle of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) visibility in the post millennial television era. The Logo Channel has reaped financial rewards from its strategy as a business entity, as LGBT American television viewers embraced its presence as a signifier to America that gays and lesbians have finally “made it”. First, any claim to a monopoly deserves critical attention for its place in mainstream television, for its business practices, and for the power it holds in representing and targeting LGBT audiences. Second, Logo’s construction of its audience is an extremely important window into current perceptions of LGBT identity, history, and progress. Third, Logo’s ability to
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