If you live in Canada and enjoy watching gay porn, then the phrase “I want my M-TV” is about to take on a brand new meaning. On April 29, Canada’s first 24-hour digital cable channel to feature adult content for gay men, Maleflixxx Television, which had a “soft launch” last December, will officially launch with a large-scale promotion campaign to attract new subscribers.
The promotion blitz will begin with a free weekend-long offering of the channel, as well as an official launch party, Maleflixxx-sponsored events at various prominent gay bars in Toronto, and several full-page ads in local and national gay publications.
Featuring nearly 100 full-length hardcore titles from studios such as Raging Stallion, Falcon, Delta Video and Marcostudio, Maleflixxx Television is the spin-off of the popular Maleflixxx VoD content site (www.maleflixxx.tv), a leading distributor of gay hardcore VoD content. The cable channel will offer many of the same titles—only this time, viewers will be able to watch them on their living room televisions. “What really makes Maleflixxx Television unique is our exclusively gay content,” says Eric Johnson, president of Maleflixxx parent company Sureflix Digital Distribution. “The channel features around the clock all-male hardcore programming from the world’s top gay studios.”
Using their expertise and experience gained from the Maleflixxx website, Johnson and his cohorts at Sureflix were able to put together a programming schedule that should keep fans of gay adult content very happy. “We know what people watch, when they watch it, how often they watch it, and what they like,” Johnson declares. “So we take all of that information and repurpose it for the television station.” But don’t expect it to be the same kind of programming all the time, Johnson stresses. “No one would want to watch the same kind of content 24 hours a day. We have access to the best content in the world in all genres and all types, and we can deliver these different kinds of content as consumers want it.”
With the success of the Maleflixxx Internet site, Johnson says that Sureflix had been investigating opportunities to branch out into digital cable after being approached by a few cable companies. “We could see the market [for adult content] opening up in Canada, and there was some interest coming from cable companies,” Johnson recalls. “There were some rumors that they might be interested in carrying not only straight, but hardcore content. So we started to talk to people in the industry.”
As it happened, retail chain Adults Only Video (AOV) was already planning to launch two straight content channels, and was looking to partner up with another company to offer a gay channel. “Ultimately, we decided to go with AOV because of their solid reputation,” Johnson says.
With Canada’s lenient attitude toward, well, just about everything, Johnson says it was a perfect time for Sureflix to broaden its horizons and explore new territory in the distribution of adult content.. “Canada has a tendency to lead North America when it comes to edgy content,” he notes. “[We’ve] traditionally taken the approach that whatever you do in the privacy of your home is your own business. I think that speaks to the Canadian way of life, where you row your boat and we’ll row our boat and everybody will be just fine.”
Meanwhile, Johnson adds, the over-population of the Internet with adult sites makes it imperative for adult businesses to begin to think outside the box. “Our online business continues to grow every month and remains core to our success, [but] the online arena appears to be somewhat crowded, [and] there are few true winners,” he begins. “Anyone looking to make a quick buck should pack it in before they start.
"In the adult industry, success will continue to come to the few players with the ability to adapt to evolving technology and the changing marketplace.”
That includes porn’s slow but sure crossover into (gasp!) mainstream consciousness—where brand new trends in the sharing of adult content are on the rise. “The reality in [much] of the world is that hardcore programming is heading toward mainstream,” Johnson declares. “As a result, not only is traditional broadcast opening up, but so are cable and satellite video-on-demand and wireless applications.”
Johnson hints that Sureflix will be quick to get in on the ground floor of some (if not all) of these new venues (Canada has aggressively been pushing video phone technology), adding that expanding outside Canadian borders isn’t too far behind. “Ultimately, Canada is a test bed for the rest of the world,” he says. “The fact of the matter is that Canada has accepted gay adult content first, so we’re using [the digital cable] experience to enable us to perfect the way we distribute the product. And then we want to provide the services all over the world wherever it’s possible.” This, he hopes, includes Europe and America. “Those are two huge markets,” he says, though he notes, “We’re looking into a lot of different things right now.”
Those things reflect Sureflix’s status as a top dog in an industry where clear-cut leaders are needed more than ever and content providers are looking to them to help grow their own businesses “As a world-leading programmer of gay adult content, it is our responsibility to exploit each new distribution medium as it becomes viable,” Johnson states. “We have a commitment to our customers to provide them with what they want and when they want it, and we also have a covenant with the studios to make them as much money as possible in as many distribution channels as possible.” Not that there’s any need to rush into things, Johnson stresses: “We’re taking it one step at a time.”
For more information, see www.maleflixxx.tv/channel
