G4_(TV_channel) - by SriLankaNewsWeb.com

G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable and satellite television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12–28, 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, although video games are still represented by one show on the channel. 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 In the key 18-49 demographic during April 2009, G4 averaged 69,000 from 65,000 in April 2008 during prime time hours; a 6% increase. However, in April 2009 the network averaged 47,000 compared to 57,000 achieved in April 2008 (this is an 18% decrease) when calculating total day 18-49 viewers. ³

History

Early days

G4 was created by Comcast and Insight Communications and launched on April 24 2002. ⁴ 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.

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.⁵

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."⁶ 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".⁶

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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ However, on the network's affiliate in Canada, the TechTV name remained until mid 2009, when the channel was renamed G4 Canada.

Format

On September 19, 2005, it was reported by TVweek.com⁹ that former DirecTV executive Neal Tiles¹⁰ 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]. 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."¹¹

In addition to its programming, G4, along with Earth911 recently launched an electronic waste recycling campaign called Gcycle.¹²

In June 2008, G4 launched G4 Rewind. This block showed older episodes of X-Play, Judgment Day, Cheat, G4tv.com, Arena, Portal, G4's Training Camp and GameMakers. G4 Rewind was eventually dropped due to the inability of the dated gaming content to attract significant ratings. ¹³

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 Ted Harbert, 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. ¹⁴

On March 4, 2007, it was announced that the G4 Studios in Santa Monica would close on April 15. Production of G4 programs was relocated to the Studios of the E! Television Network elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. As a consequence, there many G4 employees involved in production were laid off. The sets of G4's original programs were also redesigned to fit within the new smaller spaces allocated to them.

Harbert gave his opinion at the time 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.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷ Design Studios Onesize and yU+Co teamed up to rebrand the G4 network as part of the transition.¹⁸

Layoffs and cut-backs

On February 17, 2009, it was reported that G4 intended to cut back its original content programming. X-Play would be reduced to three nights a week while Attack of the Show! would be cut to four nights a week. Consequently, a number of the staff and production crew involved in the shows would be laid off. Neal Tiles has so far announced that Layla Kayleigh's contract will not be renewed and she left G4 as of April.¹⁹²⁰

Criticism

The numerous changes to the network's programming 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 saw this as G4's ongoing attempt to be a competitor to other male-oriented networks such as Spike,²¹²² thus losing any unique identity.²³ G4 and Spike no longer share the cable/satellite syndication rights to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The merger and the attempt at male-oriented appeal²⁴ 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.²⁵

Weekly averages

G4 HD

G4 HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of G4 that launched on December 8, 2008. Currently, no original shows are shot in full 16:9 HD, they are instead upconverted and presented in 4:3 aspect ratio. However, G4 President Neal Tiles recently said on his official site Open Source that some shows will be shot in native HD by the end of 2009. ²⁸

The AT&T U-verse system carries the channel in HD. ²⁹ Cablevision began carrying the channel on June 29, 2009.³⁰

It is currently unavailable on satellite television providers DirecTV and Dish Network, giving the HD version cable and IPTV exclusitivity.

G4 hosts

G4 Canada

G4 Canada is co-owned by G4 Media and Rogers Media. Due to Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations, as the channel is licensed as technology-related television channel, G4 Canada differs from its American counterpart. This has met with positive reaction from fans,^{citation needed} as the station is closer to what both Tech TV and G4 used to be pre-merger.

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