G4 network teases a comeback in 2021

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https://www.polygon.com/2020/7/24/21...n-teaser-video

G4, the defunct 2002-13 cable network dedicated to tech, gaming and entertainment programming, teased amid Comic-Con@Home that it's returning in 2021, tweeting the tagline "We never stopped playing" on its long-dormant Twitter account. The official Twitter accounts for Attack of the Show! and X-Play, G4’s best-known shows, also posted the same teaser. Olivia Munn, the biggest star to emerge out of G4 as co-host of Attack of the Show!, retweeted the teaser. And former G4 stars Blair Herter and Adam Sessler also retweeted the video, with Sessler commenting: "Well, this is curious turn of events." "The teaser contains few details on the way in which the TV network and/or its signature programming would return," says Susana Polo. "In the one-minute video, a camera pans through a dark warehouse until it comes upon a game of Pong being played on a CRT television. The TV’s screen glitches and displays the words “incoming transmission,” before the camera flies through a very 2009-era animation of zooming through internet wires that eventually resolves to the G4 logo. The year 2021 appears on the screen, followed by the aforementioned tagline." In 2013, G4 was rebranded as Esquire Network, which was shut down in 2017.

• Pressing Buttons 10.17.06: The Rise and Fall of G4 [PART 1]
  
• Pressing Buttons 11.02.06: The Rise and Fall of G4 [PART 3]
  
• Pressing Buttons 11.08.06: The Rise and Fall of G4 [PART 4]

• The Fall of G4TV, Part 1
  
• The Fall of G4TV, Part 2
  
• The Fall of G4TV, Part 3
  
• The Fall of G4TV, Part 4

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G4TV Hit With Major Layoffs Less Than A Year After Coming Back

At least somewhere between 20-30 staff members were laid off at G4TV today, according to three sources familiar with the business. The video game talk show network from the 2000s was resurrected last fall on streaming platforms like Twitch as well as cable TV, but now faces major upheaval less than a year later. “I truly can not imagine the company continuing to produce our slate of content without the people we lost today,” said one employee.

The timing and severity of the cuts took staff by surprise, with talent showing up on set today ready to film only to have programming cancelled as HR reps met individually with employees. While it’s not clear what the extent of the layoffs will be, one source said those affected were told they would receive anywhere between 16 weeks and six months of severance based on their tenure with Comcast, G4's parent company.

Three sources tell Kotaku that G4's finances have been in bad shape for some time, and managers were tasked with looking for cost savings wherever possible. Things apparently came to a head during an all-hands meeting a couple of months ago when then-G4 president Russell Arons discussed the troubles the business was facing and proposed unrealistic revenue goals for the year ahead. Staff felt blindsided, one source said, due to a lack of clear goals for measuring success against up to that point.

Arons left shortly after and was replaced by Comcast Spectator CEO Joe Marsh who sources say was only interested in finding ways to slash the budget. The suddenness and severity of today’s layoffs were unexpected, however, and call into question what the future of the new G4 will be. The network just recently announced a slate of new content, including a satirical Xplay show called God of Work, a play on Sony’s hit God of War series.

Originally launched in 2002 by Comcast, G4 was the only outlet for gaming news, reviews, and discussions on TV at the time. Its main shows were Xplay, hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb, and Attack of the Show!, hosted by Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira. Those shows were eventually cancelled in 2012, and the network closed down a few years later as gaming video content migrated online.

The network then relaunched in November 2021 with a mix of old and new talent, as well as plans to stream daily content on Twitch and other platforms in addition to being hosted on cable. In addition to Sessler and Pereira returning, new hosts included pro wrestler Austin “Xavier Woods” Watson, Indiana “Froskurinn” Black, Jirard “The Completionist” Khaliland, Fiona Nova, and many others.

The relaunch was reportedly the brain child of Tucker Roberts, the son of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. Tucker led the cable and internet company’s move into esports and is currently the president of the competitive Overwatch team, Philadelphia Fusion. According to one source, however, Tucker stepped away from G4 operations back in March.

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Comcast Pulls Plug On G4 TV, Ending Comeback Try For Gamer-Focused Network

EXCLUSIVE: Comcast’s Spectacor division is pulling the plug on video game-centric network G4 TV, whose early incarnation in the 2000s remains a cultural touchstone for many millennials, just a year after its relaunch.

In a memo set to be sent out to all employees, Spectacor CEO Dave Scott explained that the company’s investment and efforts to revive the network just didn’t gain traction.

A few dozen employees and contract workers are affected by the shutdown. Comcast said it will assist them with outplacement and consider some for internal opportunities.

The departure over the summer of Russell Arons, an experienced digital media exec who had come aboard as G4’s president in 2021, was a precursor to today’s news. Her duties were added to the portfolio of Joe Marsh, a Comcast Spectacor vet who has been CEO of T1, an international esports joint venture with Korea’s SK Telecom.

The current iteration of G4 is smaller and less focused on traditional linear TV than was its predecessor. It has announced a programming slate including a revived version of original G4 mainstays Attack of the Show! and Xplay, plus comedy Boosted, Japanese competition series Ninja Warrior, esports competitions and Dungeons & Dragons limited series.

Along with putting content on YouTube and social media, G4 has a multi-year agreement with Twitch and pay-TV distribution deals with Verizon FiOS, Cox, Xfinity TV and Philo.

Several media and tech ventures centered on the gamer community have hit turbulence recently, with Facebook shutting down its gaming app and Google winding down gaming service Stadia. VENN, a start-up billed as the “MTV of video games,” also just went bust.

G4’s initial run began in 2002 under co-owners NBCUniversal and Dish Network. The network was created by former Disney TV exec Charles Hirschhorn, who saw it as a successor to MTV in its potential to tap into youth culture. A number of notable personalities appeared as hosts on G4 in its early run, among them Olivia Munn, Chris Hardwick, Kevin Pereira and Grace Helbig.

After it went dark in 2014, G4’s place on the dial was taken over by the Esquire Network, which would prove to be a short-lived branding exercise. Amid a groundswell of enthusiasm on social media, new owner Comcast Spectacor revealed plans at Comic-Con’s virtual 2020 edition for the network’s return.

Spectacor’s main business focus is on sports and live events, with the division owning the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers as well as their home arena, the Wells Fargo Center, along with numerous other assets. The results of G4 were never particularly material to Spectacor, but the division has avidly pursed esports, making the G4 revival a logical thing to attempt.

Here is Scott’s full memo, which Deadline obtained from a source:

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Why Did the G4TV Close? Well, It Averaged 1,000 Viewers on Cable

Revived gaming channel G4 currently ranks dead last in cable viewers — Game Over.

By Tony Maglio and Wilson Chapman

Oct 17, 2022 5:45 pm

G4, the Comcast Spectacor-owned cable channel dedicated to gaming, has shut down — again.

Dave Scott, the Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO, broke the news to the G4 staff in a memo circulated on Sunday. (IndieWire obtained the note; it’s posted below.) Comcast Spectacor is the sports- and entertainment-focused subsidiary of Comcast that owns the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and used to own the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. Forty-five staffers at G4 lost their jobs immediately as a result of the decision.

The shutdown comes just under a year since the channel’s relaunch last November. The channel’s relaunch — first announced in July 2020 — followed seven dormant years for the gaming channel, which first began in 2002. The early version of the network was operated by G4 Media, a joint venture between Comcast and NBC Universal Cable.

The channel ceased original programming in 2012, when NBC Universal signed a deal with Hearst Publishing to relaunch it as the Esquire Network. Ultimately, the Esquire Network replaced the Style Network instead, but no new programming for G4 was created and several cable companies dropped it from their programming. The channel ultimately ceased operations officially on New Year’s Eve 2014.

So what went wrong this time? Among 120-something cable channels in third-quarter ratings, G4 currently ranks dead last. According to Nielsen, it draws just 1,000 total viewers (on average) across both primetime (8-11 p.m.) and total day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.). We did not miss any zeroes: 1,000 viewers.

How bad is that? Black News Channel averages twice that in primetime; Comedy.TV and beIN Sports average 4x G4’s overall primetime audience; and beIN Sports en Español is 6x better. From a viewership standpoint, all of those are still terrible — but you’ve at least possibly heard of G4.

Operating out of a studio in Burbank, California, G4 aired programming related to gaming, with particular focus on esports gameplay. Much of the channel’s programming is livestreamed on its Twitch and YouTube channels before being edited for linear TV. The relaunch brought back two of the channel’s signature series, “Attack of the Show!” (hosted by Kevin Pereira, Austin Creed, Kassem Gharaibeh, Gina Darling, Will Neff, and Fiona Nova) and “XPlay” (hosted by Adam Sessler, Indiana Black, Jirard Khalil, and Corey Smallwood). G4 launched the career of Olivia Munn, who was supposed to return when the channel came back in 2021. She did not.

Ultimately a thousand viewers = Game Over. Below is the note Scott sent to staff on Sunday.

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Comcast's G4 TV Revival Was Nielsen's Least-Watched Network of 2022; NBC Was the Most-Watched

Comcast’s sports and esports division had tried to relaunch the video gamer-centric network two years ago, but shut it down again in October. And it’s not hard to see why: G4 was the least-watched of every network that Nielsen measures, averaging a paltry 1,000 in primetime. Its rating in adults 18-49? A zero.