G4 (TV channel)

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G4

Launched	April 24, 2002^[1]
Owned by	G4 Media (Comcast)
Formerly called	G4techTV
Sister channel(s)	G4techTV Canada, E!
Website	www.g4tv.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 354
Dish Network	Channel 191
Cable
FiOS TV	171
Comcast	162
IO Digital Cable Service	175

G4 is an American cable and satellite television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12–34, devoted to the world of video games and the video game lifestyle. 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.

1 History
2 Criticism
3 G4 Hosts
4 G4techTV Canada
5 Logos
6 See also
7 Footnotes
8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early days

G4 was created by Comcast and Insight Communications in 2002. The initial concept was to create a service similar to TechTV but "geared more toward MTV's demographics".^[4] The network was launched with 13 original series. 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 thought 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".^[7]

[edit] TechTV merger

On March 25, 2004, Vulcan Inc. (formally Vulcan Ventures) sold TechTV to G4 Media (owned primarily by Comcast), who 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.

[edit] Format

On September 19, 2005, it was reported by TVweek.com ^[8] that former DirecTV executive Neal Tiles^[9] 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." ^[10]

In addition to its programming, G4, along with Earth911 recently launched an electronic waste recycling campaign called Gcycle.^[11]

[edit] 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.^[12] ^[13]^[14]

Design Studios Onesize and yU+Co have teamed up to rebrand the G4 network.^[15]

[edit] Criticism

G4 has since its beginnings been involved in relationships with advertisers and sponsors which some have found questionable.^[16] 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 honesty of all content on G4.

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,^[17]^[18] thus losing any unique identity.^[19] 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^[20] 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.^[21]

A more recent source of criticism G4 has received is its hiring of KnuxSonic as the "host" of the G4 Rewind block. IN an "Open Source" post on G4tv.com, G4 president Neal Tiles responded to this by saying, "I’ve said many times in the past… the best thing about being at G4 is the passion that the viewers exhibit for the network (past and present) and the various genres we cover (gaming, tech, comics, web, etc). We view Brian (aka Knuxsonic) as a passionate fan. We may not always agree (or like) what he says… but he’s entitled to his opinion. His dedication to the G4 fan community and gaming in general at G4rewind.com is what caught our attention. Based on all this, we felt he was the best person to help us shape a block dedicated to past G4 shows." 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.^[22] In addition, the Parents Television Council has criticized other shows now in syndication on G4, including Arrested Development,^[23] Cheaters,^[24] COPS,^[25]^[26] and The Man Show.^[27]^[28]

[edit] G4 Hosts

The list of current G4 personalities also includes the two remaining employees from TechTV that are highlighted in bold. They are currently the hosts of the only remaining show that was originally produced by TechTV, X-Play.

Kevin Pereira (co-host of Attack of the Show!)
Olivia Munn (co-host of Attack of the Show!)
Adam Sessler (co-host/managing editor of X-Play)
Morgan Webb (co-host of X-Play)
Kristin Holt (host of Cheat!, now a segment on X-Play)
Zach Selwyn (correspondent on Attack of the Show!)
Layla Kayleigh (anchor of "The Feed" on Attack of the Show!)
Joel Gourdin (correspondent on Attack of the Show! and X-Play)
Chris Gore (movie correspondent and presenter of "DVDuesday" on Attack of the Show!)
Blair Butler (comic book correspondent on Attack of the Show!)
Alison Haislip (correspondent on Attack of the Show!)
Chris Hardwick (presenter of "Gadget Pron" on Attack of the Show!)
Anna David (sex columnist and presenter of "In Your Pants" on Attack of the Show!)
Knuxsonic (host of G4 Rewind block)

[edit] 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. While G4techTV focuses on technology programming and related lifestyle programming that TechTV originally had, G4 has been heading into a male orientated programming direction with less of an emphasis on gaming and more on male general interests.

[edit] Logos

Original G4 logo (2002), used in combination with mascots of the network.	G4 logo (late 2003-May 2004) used as part of the network's first broadcast redesign since its launch.	G4's logo (May 2004 - February 2005) when it was merged with TechTV, under the moniker, G4techTV. This logo was also used by G4techTV Canada until mid-2005.	G4 logo (February - May 2005) used after the "TechTV" name was dropped months after the G4/TechTV merger.
G4 logo (May 2005 - February 2006) from G4's videogame-centric days. "Videogame TV" is used instead of "G4TV.COM" or the current "TV That's Plugged In".	G4 logo used from February 2006 to March 2007.	G4 logo as of March 2007