6-Hour Radio Station For Gays Draws Worldwide Response

KGAY, the nation's first 24-hour radio station devoted to a gay and bisexual audience, made its satellite debut last month.

Since then, KGAY general manager Clay Henderson says his phone has been ringing nonstop with calls from CNN, The New York Times, Hollywood Reporter and newspapers from all over the country, and Canada, Japan and Australia. At last count, Henderson had talked with more than 120 reporters.

"An Australian daily newspaper calls us the `hottest thing in American music since MTV' and we had a personal visit from Ted Turner," Henderson said in a telephone interview. "No way did we expect all this."

KGAY broadcasts via satellite hookup from its main office in Denver. The only way to receive KGAY is through a C-band home satellite dish. According to Henderson, KGAY has a potential satellite audience of 7.5 million in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean. KGAY airs a mixed format of alternative music, talk and "mainstream news from a gay perspective" provided by Gay Net News Service, Associated Press and others.

Henderson says negotiations are under way with cable TV companies and radio stations to re-transmit the KGAY signal.

Satellite dish owners can pull the signal by pointing the dish at the Hughes' Galaxy 5 Satellite on transponder channel 6 at 6.30/6.48 megahertz (mhz) discrete stereo and from the GTE Spacenet 3 Satellite on transponder channel 22 at 6.20/7.40 mhz discrete stereo. For more information on how to receive the station's signal, call 1-800-733-KGAY.

KGAY's strong debut pleased Henderson, especially because its offices are located in Denver. Colorado voters last month passed an initiative that prohibits gay-rights laws and repeals existing anti-bias ordinances in Denver, Boulder and Aspen. As a result, some organizations have canceled plans for conventions in the state and some celebrities who usually spend the holidays at Colorado resorts have chosen different destinations.

"It was an emotional setback when Colorado passed the anti-gay law," Henderson said. "We took some time off to decide what we were going to do. We finally decided to stay here and fight. We're behind enemy lines, and we're keeping the communication open. We're prepared for anything to happen."

Because KGAY broadcasts via satellite, it isn't subject to licensing by the Federal Communications Commission. But the station voluntarily adheres to the FCC regulations of decency and also follows the now-defunct Code of Good Conduct by the National Association of Broadcasters, Henderson said.

KGAY started as a grass- roots effort with a staff of 11 people, Henderson said. "We got our equipment from discount electronic shops and faxed hundreds of announcements to radio stations all over."

KGAY's sudden popularity doesn't surprise Henderson. "The industry has expected us for a long time," he said. "Timing and luck had a lot to do with it, too. Too many business people have caught onto the advertising potential." The national weekly newspaper, Advertising Age, will feature several articles on how to advertise to a gay and lesbian market in its Jan. 18 issue.

KGAY is only the beginning, Henderson adds. By the end of January, Henderson expects to begin KGAY2, a 24-hour talk- radio and nostalgia music station, also in Denver. He has also started several syndicated TV projects, including a gay/lesbian news show, a gay/lesbian alternative music dance program and a gay/lesbian version of "The Dating Game."

"Our intended purpose is not to be the `politically correct' gay and lesbian network," Henderson said. "We inform and entertain."

Although it's too early to predict KGAY's outcome, Henderson remains confident. "Whether or not our momentum continues, certainly gay and lesbian commercial broadcast programs are here to stay."