‘Dating Channel’ to Bring Video Mating to Cable TV

Lovelorn, lonely and just plain mating-weary residents of Seal Beach and Newport Beach will soon be able to shop on television for a new love interest.

“The Dating Channel,” a weekly, hourlong montage of one-minute, homemade videos, is scheduled to premiere Aug. 4 at 8:30 p.m. on Comcast cable in the two beach cities, Comcast production supervisor Vicki Botka said.

Joe Weber, a Santa Ana attorney, is producing the show, which will be broadcast on Channel 3, Comcast’s leased-access channel. Participants submitting their videos, in which they will be identified by a code number, will be charged $50, and viewers who reply to the mating call will pay $5 to have their missives forwarded, Weber said.

“We’re not setting up dates, or guaranteeing anything except that we’ll show your video,” said Weber, who is married. “The real big thing here is confidentiality. We will never give out somebody’s legal name or address or phone number (without the person’s consent). . . . I thought this would be interesting, and there’s a need for it.”