OUTtv was initiated by Marc Putman, who started the channel thanks to a business background in the digital television industry and by various private investors, whereby the brand was registered in Europe independently. The channel was launched on Wednesday 2 April in Amsterdam, initially for the Netherlands only, but there was an interest from other distributors outside the Netherlands. The first the channel outside the Netherlands was launched with a Swedish version in Sweden in 2010 at Comhem (now Tele2). Afterwards followed new expansions, in 2010 in Belgium and the OUTtv Deutschland channel was launched in 2012 and in Luxembourg in 2014. The Spanish tv-channel started in 2016 at Orange ES. In Israel, the channel was launched at HOT -named PRIDEtv- with a Hebrew subtitles in 2018.
At the initial launch in 2008 the OutTV Canada channel also was with the same name launched a couple of years earlier in Canada. Some of the programmes were licensed initially with support of OUTtv in Canada.[1] Nowadays, none of the programs of the Canadian channel are no longer shown on the European channel and the branding of these channels is distinctive. The two companies are not connected and work individually.[citation needed]
An HD-simulcast started through Ziggo in the Netherlands on 30 November 2017. [2] Since 2025 all European operators offer the HD version with mostly catch-up services.
Programming and Audience
OUTtv is a lifestyle and entertainment channel which offers a broad range of programs, such as drama, comedy, talk shows, documentaries and films, which are mostly targeted towards the [LGBTQ community], though its main audience are gay male with a high percentage of 40% female (mainly straight) viewers].
Series and films
OUTtv differentiates itself with a varied programming of quality shows and qualitative art-house films.
Several well-known shows which are or were broadcast on OUTtv are:
Queer as Folk, (US edition) - the first major gay-tv series showing a gay lifestyle
RuPaul's Drag Race - multiple Grammy Award winning series - being broadcast first in Europe by OUTtv
The Golden Girls- classical tv comedy from the eighties and nineties, highly popular among the gay-audience
La Veneno - Tv series that stimulated the adaptation of the transgender law in Spain
Award winning LGBTQ+ arthouse films - daily broadcast on the channel provided by its film distribution daughter CINEMIEN
OUTtv also broadcasts their own productions, such as the current affairs programmes OUTtv News and OUTtv Reports; and the travel showTravel Experience, hosted by Ian van der Putten. It has shown specials covering several pride celebrations, the yearly Emmy Awards live from LA and the Eurovision Song Contest. OUTtv supports via its film distribution daughter 'Cinemien Deutschland 'Cinemien Benelux' to produce film productions and distribute films in various European countries.
Next to European tv-operators OUTtv has closed an European partnership since 2020 with Amazon Prime; subscribers can select the OUTtv channel as a seperate option including an on-demand catalogue.
OUTmusic
Part of the daily programming is the music channel OUTmusic, offering daily a mix of classic music videoclips and popular clips of today combined with specific space for (upcoming) queer music artists. On March 1, 2010, OUTtv started its own internet radio station under the name OUTmusic. This channel mostly targets gay men and “like-minded” listeners and primarily brings new and well-known hits of the 1990s and 2000s. In the evening lounge music can be heard and in the weekend well-known Gay Classics. Next to the standard programme blocks, OUTmusic also offers room for pop divas, well-known DJs of famous gay clubs, new artists and the Eurovision Song Contest.
OUTmusic Award
Since OUTmusic's launch in 2010, OUTtv has presented the OUTmusic Award, an award given annually honoring the favorite Eurovision Song Contest entry by viewers. The winner of the award is determined through a large-scale online poll conducted every year in March and April and is announced before the start of the contest in order to avoid influencing the voting patterns of the contest's LGBT audience. The prize is personally awarded to the winner during OutTV's annual Eurovision Calling programme.[3]
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