G4, which was also known as G4TV, was a digital network, which primarily aired in the U.S. . It was owned by G4 Media ( Comcast ) and founded by Charles Hirschhorn. The primary focus of this channel was on video games, and it had a target audience of males aged from 12 to 28. DirecTV had G4 on channels 310 and 1310 (which was Video On Demand). The Dish Network had G4 at 191.
Early Days Of G4
Being launched on April 24’ 2002, by Comcast and Insight Communications, which were the creators of G4, the focus, as written earlier, was mainly on the males 12-28 years of age. The concept was to create something having similarities to that TechTV but different by being more geared toward MTV’s demographics. Although the network was launched with 13 original series, the early days had repeated premiers of Pong game until the series were out.
The Thirteen Original Series
The launched series mostly included sport-related shows and video game cheats and reviews, starting with:-
• Arena – which was a digital sports highlight show with play-by-play commentary with players in very intense multiplayer games.
• Blister – which focused on action/ adventure video game previews, reviews, and interviews with professional game developers.
• Filter – It was a top ten countdown selected by viewers.
• Cinematech – It was a show of high-end digital art which included detailed game cinematics and trailer.
• Sweat – which was focused on sports game news.
• Cheat – It was a show that provided tips on games.
• Portal – This show focused on multiplayer online gaming and aired the insights of multiplayer games.
• Judgement Day – It included two professional gamers who would sit together and opine on the latest entries. This show is currently known as the ‘Reviews on the Run’.
Some more shows were there, having their whole sole focus on the sports and gaming industries.
Broadcasting:-
The Channel was launched in the United States of America, having its broadcasting services nationwide. It was aired in the English language, and The headquarters were at 1840 Victory Boulevard, Glendale, California, U. S. It was last aired on New year’s Eve in 2014 and then has been re-launched recently.
TechTV Acquisition:-
In 2004, two years after the launch of G4, TechTV was bought by G4 media, which is primarily owned by Comcast itself, and both channels were soon merged to become G4TechTV. The immediate merger was followed by the firing of a large number of employees of both channels. The hosts of TechTV also lost their jobs, and several original shows from both channels were taken down, which left a large number of fans dissatisfied. In less than a year, TechTV was officially removed from the channel’s name, and it is now known as G4 only.
Closing Of G4
After the merger and dropping of TechTV, the viewership of G4 declined drastically as many decisions were taken that did not interest the employees as well as the views. The CEOs were changed frequently, and the content and schedule of the channel’s original programming were revised several times, leaving some shows to be aired only thrice a week. Many employees were laid off after that, and TV satellites started removing G4 from their lineup, citing that the network’s low viewership was not a good value for their viewers. DirecTV removed G4, citing the low interest of their subscribers as well as the low Nielsen rating being the primary reason for this step.
On January 6’ 2014, G4 was removed from all the cable satellites worldwide by Comcast and the last day of G4 was a marathon of Top 100 Video Games Of All Times, followed by a debut episode of X-ray. Eventually, the network ended with a fading pong on the screen, which referred to its launch.
Revival And Relaunch
On July 24’ 2020, the Twitter account of G4 was reactivated to announce the revival of G4. It was later announced that the high demands of the fans would lead to the revival of both ‘Attach Of The Show!’ and ‘X-play’.
On October 12’ 2021, it was announced that the network would relaunch on November 16’ 2021, and so did happen with a marathon on the original ‘Ninja Warrior’. The network also launched G4 select on Pluto TV in March 2022, which includes content almost the same content as that of G4’s regular television channel.
The original initiation of the G4 creators on bringing something up solely for the games and male interests was revived and followed although it includes a wide area rather than just sports and games, such as geek, fandom, and the general audience shows aimed at young adult men.
Q.1 What are the primary live streaming sites of G4?
The primary live streaming sites are Twitch and Youtube, but it is also streamed on Philo ETC.