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G4 channel shutting down for good this month
NBC Universal is putting an end to its G4 cable television network after more than a decade of operation, Nebraska affiliate Great Plains Communications reported earlier this month. G4 aired gaming-focused television shows like X-Play and Attack of the Show before ceasing its production of original programming in 2012. The channel was to be rebranded as an Esquire network in 2013, but fell back on airing re-runs of older series after conversion plans were abandoned. Kansas-based cable provider Golden Belt Telephone confirms that G4 will be taken off the air on November 30. [Image: NBC / G4]
Report: G4 spared an Esquire Network makeover
NBC Universal has announced video games cable channel G4 will no longer be converted into the Esquire Network. An exclusive report on The Hollywood Reporter calls out NBC Universal's Style channel as the unlucky recipient of an Esquire makeover, which will see the now female-focused channel shifting its focus toward mature men. As a result of this news, G4 will continue to operate as-is for the foreseeable future. The announcement to convert G4 into the Esquire Network came in February, when NBC Universal called out an April 22 re-branding. A week prior to that planned launch, NBC Universal pushed back the launch of the Esquire Network to an unspecified date.
G4 becomes Esquire Network in April
The G4 television network stops being G4 on April 22, and with that, likely stops being something we cover. As reported late last year, Owner NBCUniversal will rebrand the formerly gaming-and-Cops-rerun channel as The Esquire Network, named after the magazine.The Esquire Network is described as "an upscale Bravo for men," as NBC cable executive Bonnie Hammer imagines it. It will attempt to appeal to sophisticated audiences with shows like "Knife Fight," about chefs competing with each other, and "The Getaway," a celebrity travel show.Nowhere among the list of programming is anything about video games. "Realistically, guys who are into gaming are not necessarily watching television," Hammer told the New York Times. Maybe not on cable networks, anyway.
