With a forthcoming Sundance Channel transgender reality series as a flagship product, gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender company PlanetOut will launch a new broadband Video-on-Demand entertainment service targeted to its audience in September.
Called PlanetOut Video, the new service will include programming from television, movies, independent filmmakers, and individual artists, with video clips and behind-the-scenes footage from original and syndicated programs and films. The programming will be available at Gay.com and PlanetOut.com.
"We believe that PlanetOut Video will allow us to establish relationships with a wider range of advertisers, such as movie studios, TV networks, and Fortune 500 advertisers wanting to engage the gay market through video and 30-second ad spots," said PlanetOut president Mark Elderkin in the company's July 13 announcement.
"We feel that a major benefit for advertisers is that our audience is fully measured, and commercials can be targeted to an individual viewer based on the viewer's gender, age, and location," he added.
Sundance Channel will be an initial programming partner, part of a larger marketing plan to back Sundance's TransGeneration, an original series following four college students balancing study, campus life, family, and their commitment to "gender reassignment." The show will premiere on PlanetOut Video prior to its scheduled September 20 launch, PlanetOut said.
"We chose PlanetOut as our strategic marketing partner and online host for the premiere of episode one of TransGeneration because of their deep reach in the LGBT market, their success in building unique, interactive programming, and their ability to support a fully integrated campaign to this discerning audience," said Sundance senior marketing vice president Kirk Iwanowski in his own statement. "Sundance Channel looks forward to building this multifaceted relationship with PlanetOut beyond the launch of this series."
PlanetOut Video also will feature award-winning short films from the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards. As sponsor of the awards for 2005 and 2006, Toyota subsidiary Scion is another PlanetOut Video launch partner, with Scion commercials now running at Gay.com and PlanetOut.com.
