Media offer new outlets for gay audiences

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2006 | by Jim Hopkins

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brokeback Mountain's gay cowboys aren't the only ones falling in love.

More companies are growing smitten with new gay media ventures on the Internet, in music and print. They want to lasso a share of the expanding market of gays and lesbians spending big on everything from travel to entertainment -- and the ad dollars that follow.

Marketers have chased this niche for years. But the trend has gained juice lately among major media companies as ventures like Brokeback attract straight consumers in a more gay-tolerant culture:

*Bravo, the cable channel owned by NBC Universal, next month is launching OutzoneTV.com, billed as the first broadband entertainment channel for gay viewers.

*Sony Music is teaming with Matt Farber, founder of MTV...