Beginnings of an LGBT Media Empire?

Lawyers and executives this week announced the formation of Here Media, an "LGBT media powerhouse" formed through a merger of several companies catering to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender consumers.

While the resulting entity isn't exactly Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, it does represent an interesting alliance. Combining to form Here Media are purveyor of "Gay Television On Demand" Here Networks, Regent Entertainment Media and PlanetOut. (Give full credit to PlanetOut for staking its claim to recognizable sobriquettes in the realm of commerce. The company is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol "LGBT," and owns the Web site gay.com.)

"This business combination will unite a powerful broadband video solution with an iconic brand and a leading URL in the LGBT community," Paul Colichman, CEO of Here Networks, said in a statement. "We are extremely excited about the opportunity to leverage this exceptional collection of assets to expand our audience, grow our revenues, and increase stockholder value."

The deal is still subject to shareholder voting and regulatory approval. Count us among its supporters -- we can't wait to see what this would-be media behemoth's version of Fox News looks like.