G4 (American TV network)

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For other uses, see G4 (disambiguation).
G4
Ownership
OwnerG4 Media (Comcast)

G4 is an American cable and satellite television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12–34, devoted to the world of video games. More recently, the channel has diverted its focus to general interest programming that targets male viewers aged 17–36. G4 launched on April 24, 2002.[1] It is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and owned by G4 Media (which, in turn, is owned primarily by Comcast). G4 is available in 62 million cable and satellite homes in the United States.[2]

The name "G4" originally stood for the four generations of video games (text, sprites, polygons and textures). It now stands for Games, Gear, Gadgets and Gigabytes.

History

Early days

G4 was and Insight Communications in 2002. The initial concept was to create a service similar to TechTV but "geared more toward MTV's demographics".[1] The network was launched with 13 original series, however, during the first few weeks of airing, on Comcast Digital Cable, the game Pong was shown. It featured the screen of a Pong board, with a game being played out. This was repeated until the channel's first shows premiered. The launch shows consisted of Arena (a digital sports-highlight game show), Filter (a Top-Ten countdown voted by viewers), Blister (focused on action/adventure game news), Cinematech (described as a showcase for the best high-end digital art), Sweat (focused on sports game news). Cheat! (tips on games), Portal (focused on multiplayer online games), Pulse (news on the gaming industry), Judgment Day (currently known as Reviews on the Run, "two video-game gurus will opine on the latest entries") and G4tv.com (an interactive talk show on video games). Building on the theme of the channel, shows such as Players and Icons were added. Players focused mainly on celebrities' choices on video games, consoles, and showing off their custom personal computers. Icons focused mainly on developers, gaming publishers, and famous franchises in the industry such as Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Everquest, Valve Software, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Will Wright. To further reinforce the gaming culture and community, reruns of an arcade based game show from the 1980s known as Starcade were included in the daily rotation.

File:G4TV.svg
Previous Logo used from February 2006 to March 2007.

G4 was originally led by Charles Hirschhorn, a former president of Walt Disney Television and Television Animation. He expected video game creators themselves to eventually produce programming for the network. He envisioned that G4 could follow in the footsteps of MTV which in his opinion provided music video producers with a venue for non-traditional television programming.[3]

Hirschhorn intended G4 to become a vehicle for unconventional advertising. In 2002, G4 offered advertisers "wide latitude to place their products on G4's programs, and even allowing their commercials to appear as if they're a part of the program."[4] G4 also offered what was called a "2 minute unit" which was an advertising package played as if it were part of a G4 program that was long enough to run an entire movie trailer. G4 also offered to sell the right to have a game showcased on the show "Pulse".[4]

TechTV merger

On March 25, 2004, Vulcan Inc. (formally Vulcan Ventures) sold TechTV to G4 Media (owned primarily by Comcast), which then merged both channels to soon become G4TechTV. The original TechTV production facilities located in San Francisco, CA would be closed and the new network would be located in Los Angeles, CA. Charles Hirschhorn of G4 was put in charge of the combined entity.

Reaction to this news left many fans of both channels strong feelings of displeasure and hostility, seeing the removal of almost all the original shows from both G4 and predominantly TechTV, and the immediate firing of many employees (including the spontaneous termination of most/all original TechTV employees and hosts). The relocation of a technology/video gaming network away from the San Francisco area (where a large portion of game/tech development takes place; also see Silicon Valley) also seemed very foolish to many.

On February 15, 2005, less than a year after the merger, TechTV was officially dropped from the channel's name in the U.S. completely, and is now known only as G4. However, on the network's affiliate in Canada, the TechTV name still remains strong (along with some original TechTV programming and more), and the channel is also still known as G4techTV Canada.

Format

On September 19, 2005, it was reported by TVweek.com[5] that former DirecTV executive Neal Tiles[6] had replaced G4 founder Charles Hirschhorn as the channel's CEO. Also reported was a managerial decision to decrease G4's emphasis on video game coverage, in favor of a shift toward a male general interest programming format, reminiscent of Spike. The programming format mostly consists of syndicated material.

Its website address in lieu of the slogan "Videogame TV" was introduced and gradually replaced the existing logo over the next few months.

Variety.com reported, "Now, under the aegis of Comcast and new president Neal Tiles, G4 is evolving into a lifestyle channel, peppered with videogame culture, as opposed to wall-to-wall games."

"We're going through a change. Guys like to play games, but not necessarily watch a bunch of shows with games on the screen," Tiles says. "So what we're doing now is expanding G4 from a network solely defined by videogames to one inspired by them."[7]

In addition to its programming, G4, along with Earth911 recently launched an electronic waste recycling campaign called Gcycle.[8]

As of June 2, 2008, G4 has started G4 Rewind. This segment shows older episodes of X-Play, Judgment Day, Cheat, G4tv.com, Arena, Portal, G4's Training Camp and GameMakers. The first week showed promising ratings.

Consolidation

Comcast, the parent company of both G4 and E! television channels, announced on October 12, 2006, that it would consolidate its west coast entertainment operations, including G4, E! and Style into a new group headed by the person who had formerly run the E! Network. It was announced that the upper management of the G4 network would relocate to the E! Network's LA office and that there would likely eventually be layoffs within the management of G4 as operations were consolidated. Ted Harbert, the CEO of the newly-created Comcast Entertainment Group, also said that in the long run the organization would look at colocating G4's television production facilities with those of E! to further cut costs. Harbert gave his opinion that the focus of the channel on "gaming has been demonstrated as being too narrow." He also gave assurances that while G4 might change, it would not become extinct.[9][10][11]

Design Studios Onesize and yU+Co have teamed up to rebrand the G4 network.[12]

Criticism

G4 has since its beginnings been involved in relationships with advertisers and sponsors which some have found questionable.[4] G4 has, in the past, boasted about its willingness to go beyond the traditional limits of advertising on the network. The willingness of the network to sell advertisements inside of program content as well as efforts in the past to sell coverage of products on shows to companies raises questions about the business ethics of product promotion within G4 program content.

The numerous changes to the network's programming also brought on a storm of criticism from longtime TechTV/G4 fans across the internet, many claiming that the channel has strayed too far from its gaming and technology roots, and accuse the channel of solely relying on shows like X-Play and Attack of the Show! to be the only reason why the channel is still on the air. With most of the remaining G4 original shows having been severely altered, many see this as G4's ongoing attempt to be a competitor to other male-oriented networks such as Spike,[13][14] thus losing any unique identity.[15] G4 and Spike no longer share the cable/satellite syndication rights to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The merger and the new male-oriented appeal[16] has caused negative reaction on the fanbase's end. There have been and still are "Anti-G4" websites, message boards, and petitions across the internet to try and repeal the changes.[17]

In addition, certain syndicated programming shown on G4 have been controversial to some degree. Banzai, when it initially aired on FOX in 2003, sparked protests from Asian-American groups for depictions of stereotypes.[18] In addition, the Parents Television Council has criticized other shows now in syndication on G4, including Arrested Development,[19] Cheaters,[20] COPS,[21][22] and The Man Show.[23][24]

To alleviate some of the major complaints many of the G4 fanbase have levied against G4TV, the network announced that beginning on June 2, 2008, it would run a new feature block of programming known as G4 Rewind.[25] The revival of many classic shows, and a Pop-Up Video style informative box that appears at certain parts explaining behind the scenes secrets related to the current show. So far, the feedback from the G4 community has been positive. However, some criticism has returned since the decision was made in early September to ratchet down the Rewind schedule to 90 minutes a day (also, it only includes classic episodes of Cheat! and Game Makers).

G4 hosts

G4techTV Canada

Main article: G4techTV Canada

G4techTV Canada is co-owned by G4 Media and Rogers Media. Because of the co-ownership between G4 and Rogers, and the network's licensing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as a technology channel, the rename of February 15, 2005 did not take effect in Canada. Also, because of CRTC programming regulations, some programs that air on G4 in the U.S. do not air on G4techTV Canada; those shows are instead replaced by Canadian-produced technology programming.

G4techTV Canada is very different from its American counterpart because of these CRTC regulations. This has met with Positive reaction from fan's, As the station is closer to what both Tech TV and G4 used to be Pre-Merger without shifting gears towards Male General Interest Programming that the current G4 has.

G4HD

G4HD will be launched on December 8, 2008.[26]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c G4 Aims Originals at Video Game Fans - 4/15/2002 - Multichannel News
  2. ^ G4 - About
  3. ^ Richey, Joshua. The Rise and Fall of G4 (Part 1). 411mania.com: October 17, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c [1]
  5. ^ TVWeek - Special Reports - Print Edition
  6. ^ G4 - About - Management - Neal Tiles - President
  7. ^ Cablers make play for gamer demos - Entertainment News, The Games Issue, Media - Variety
  8. ^ Earth Day Roundup: Not Lame, We Promise
  9. ^ E! pwns G4 - Boing Boing
  10. ^ News - TVWeek
  11. ^ G4 Not Getting Axed - Voodoo Extreme
  12. ^ Design Studios Onesize and yU+Co Team Up To Rebrand G4 Network, Broadcast Newsroom, June 20, 2007
  13. ^ McDuffee, Keith (2005-09-27). "Coming to G4: The Man Show? Update June 1,2008. G4 Tv will be re showing classic G4 shows such as Portal and other on their schedule starting June 2,2008". TV Squad. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  14. ^ Richey, Joshua. The Rise and Fall of G4 (Part 3). 411mania.com. November 2, 2006.
  15. ^ Richey, Joshua. The Rise and Fall of G4 (Part 4). 411mania.com. November 8, 2006.
  16. ^ G4 network tries a new game plan to get more guys
  17. ^ The End of Gamer TV. PTD Magazine. August 20, 2007.
  18. ^ Wilkes, Neil. 'Banzai' sparks protests in US. Digital Spy: June 18, 2003.
  19. ^ PTC evaluation of "Arrested Development"
  20. ^ Bozell, L. Brent III (2001-10-09). "Missing Lucy More Than Ever". Parents Television Council. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  21. ^ "May Sweeps Round-Up". Parents Television Council. May 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ PTC evaluation on "COPS"
  23. ^ Lucia Alzaga; et al. (2002). "Wired for Raunch: A Content Analysis of expanded basic cable's Original Prime-Time Series". Parents Television Council. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  24. ^ PTC list of Best and Worst Cable Shows of 2001-2002 season
  25. ^ G4 - Rewind
  26. ^ comcastnetworks.com

External links

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