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cyberbarf ALL GOOD THINGS END ARTICLE Last month, NBCUniversal/Comcast decided to cancel its G4TV network shows, X-Play and Attack of the Show. The move was part of a corporate strategy to rebrand the G4 network to an upscale, GQ or Esquire type network for the young male demographic. X-Play and Attack of the Show were the last two hold-over, original network shows from the merger of TechTV and G4 in 2004. From Crain's, March 30, 2004: G4 Brand for Merged Nets Comcast Pays $290 Million for TechTV; Probable Surviving Shows Named Comcast Corp.'s G4 brand will dominate the merged cable network created by the purchase of TechTV, which was finalized last week, sources said. “It's safe to say [the new network] will be called G4,” said Allan Singer, senior VP of programming investments at Comcast. If federal regulators approve the deal, the combined 24-hour channel will likely launch in May. As first reported in December (TelevisionWeek, Dec. 8, 2003), Comcast will fold TechTV into its gamer network G4. Insiders said the deal is worth just north of $290 million to billionaire Paul Allen and his Vulcan Programming Inc. Comcast will control a majority stake in the venture, while EchoStar Communications will hold an estimated 12 percent stake in exchange for distribution on its DISH Network. The move is a significant step up for the video game channel, which views TechTV as a fast track to increased distribution and as a source of compatible programming. G4 is seen in 15 million cable homes while TechTV is in 43 million homes. Due to overlap in the market, the combined net will be seen in 44 million homes. That means when the deal closes, G4 will become big enough to be Nielsen-rated, which should help with advertising. Charles Hirsch-horn, founder and CEO of G4, will be CEO of the combined network. Insiders said G4's new headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., will house the network, while TechTV headquarters in San Francisco is expected to be closed or downsized. G4 executives called TechTV's cable operators to reassure them the new network will retain the same young-male demographic goals. MSO reaction is a concern during any rebranding as an operator can hold a network in violation of its content agreement if programming radically shifts. G4 Chief Operating Officer Debra Green said the new network will feature the best of G4 and TechTV, along with new original programs. G4 will soon decide which shows on both networks will continue, though Ms. Green offered a preliminary list of programs likely to survive. From G4: Icons, Judgment Day, Pulse, Players and Cheat! are in favor. From TechTV: X-Play, Robot Wars, Anime Unleashed, The Screen Savers and Fresh Gear will likely continue. “The new network will be about video games, the gamer lifestyle, gadgets and gear,” Ms. Green said. “Our consumer is the iPod-carrying, HDTV-watching, camera-phone-using VOD generation.” The purchase involves a unique set of circumstances. Typically, larger companies consume smaller companies and retain their original dominant identity. In this case, a small network is gobbling its larger and well-branded competitor. Given TechTV's recent growth and viewer recognition, one might wonder whether Comcast would be tempted to stick closer to TechTV's brand than to G4's. But Mr. Singer attributed TechTV's success to its length of time in the marketplace more than its programming. TechTV was established in 1998; G4 in 2002. “The [new] network has to start with G4, which is a programming idea that we think has proved out the way we hoped it would," he said. "We see this as really a way to jump-start the distribution of G4.” That sort of comment riles TechTV workers, who see themselves as victims of their own success. “I think they would be crazy to use us only for the real estate,” said one TechTV insider. “I think G4 has been sort of stuck, distribution wise.” Ms. Green said input and resources from TechTV will not be discarded. “We will be going up there fairly quickly and listening to their advice and suggestions,” she said. “We would love to hear from them. There will be joint discussions about what this network will look like.” G4 network never caught on with cable and satellite operators. It was a niche programming channel that did not draw sufficient ratings and advertisers to support purely tech shows. In the beginning, executives (and viewers in retrospect) wished G4 could keep the channel dedicated to games and tech 24/7 but that it doesn't draw a large enough audience to keep the network going, so network went with cheaper paid content; filler reality shows like Cops, Cheaters and Campus PD to syndicated reruns of old network shows like Lost and Heroes. In 2011, Comcast acquired 51 percent of the network. As a cost cutting cable operator, the executive decision was made to eliminate the original network programming and the related overhead costs. As part of a large 500 plus staff layoff notice in late summer of 2012, which included other Comcast/NBC Universal shows including The Tonight Show, G4's shows were doomed to cancellation. It has been a slow demise for the origins of the G4 vision. 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! channel. It was announced that the upper management of the G4 channel would relocate to the E! channel's Los Angeles office. On March 4, 2007, it was announced that the G4 Studios in Santa Monica, California, would close on April 15. Production of G4 programs was relocated to the Comcast Entertainment Group facility which housed E! and Style Network in the Wilshire Courtyard complex in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles (G4's original facility remains in use as an E! studio and office facility, mainly for that network's Chelsea Lately). As a consequence, many G4 employees involved in production were terminated. The sets of G4's original programs were also redesigned to fit within the new smaller spaces allocated to them. The autonomy of G4 and its programs were slowly squeezed out of the picture. On October 26, 2012 when the network announced that X-Play and Attack of the Show! would cease by the end of 2012, that meant the end all of G4's studio programming, leaving it only airing acquired and syndicated programming. Reports of G4TV rebranding itself in 2013 into an upscale men's channel appeared previous to the recent programming changes. In announcing the cancellations, the network stated that it was going to rebrand the channel towards an upscale men's network for the GQ or Esquire demographic. Many saw this as G4's ongoing attempt to be a competitor to other male-oriented networks such as Spike. Spike was started on March 7, 1983 (as TNN) as The Nashville Network (TNN), a joint venture of WSM, Inc. (a subsidiary of National Life and Accident Insurance Company) and Group W Satellite Communications. Gaylord Entertainment Company acquired the channel a few months later. After several changes of ownership and name, Spike currently operates as part of MTV Networks, owned by Viacom. As a result, Spike was branded as an edgy, male oriented channel. Spike's current primetime and signature shows do not tend to hit the high IQ demographic. Current programming includes: 1000 Ways To Die, American Digger, Bar Rescue, Big Easy, IMPACT WRESTLING, Jail, MMA Uncensored Live, Playbook 360 Rat B*stards, Tattoo Nightmares, Urban Tarzan, All Access Weekly, Auction Hunters, Bellator Fighting Championships, 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty, Deadliest Warrior, GTTV, Ink Master, Joe Schmo: The Full Bounty, Powerblock, Repo Games Undercover Stings, and World's Wildest Police Videos. Comcast has yet to announce a program schedule or network moniker for the G4 property.
cyberbarf WHAT IS NEXT OPINION It would seem that the death of G4TV programming to “rebrand“ the network for a young, hip, male demographic to be counterproductive. The whole idea of the G4 network was to hit the points of the male demographic: tech, games, movies, reviews, beer fests, fast cars and lovely women in original shows that would reflect the new network retaining the same young-male demographic goals. Now, ten years later, the network scraps the scraps of the old merger to re-boot the channel to attract the same male demographic. Many fans hope that X-Play or AOTS will be picked up by some other channel. That is not going to happen. Comcast owns the shows and it would be foolish to compete against itself. Besides, the shows did not pull in enough ratings to make them viable in the ever fragmenting entertainment viewing landscape. It is ironic that other channels are in development for shows that in certain respects mimic the geeky infotainment aspects of the G4 shows. Filmmaker James Gunn was on AOTS in November. At the end of his segment, he went off on the cancellation. He liked the show and enjoyed all of his time on it over the years. He was really upset with the cancellation. On the same show, one Tweeter asked that if Twinkies could be saved, why not AOTS? Candace Bailey said “never gonna happen.” Guest host John Barrowman thanked the staff and crew, and then pleaded for another network to pick up the show. Former Tech TV host Leo Laporte blogged on the demise of the network was another sign that cable television cannot handle intelligent programs. It is speculation, but rumors have the new G4 to be a clone of Spike TV or an upscaled magazine style men's magazine. If you look at another Comcast property, the E! channel, one could see a male version of that programming block. However, it appears that Comcast is slashing personnel. It let go more than 500 employees, including most of G4 employees as well as staffers on the network's late night cash cow, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Television is grinding through some tough advertising times. So, it is doubtful that the new G4 will actually produce its own programs. Look to purchase reality show knock offs and a constant diet of syndicated reruns like Cops and Cheaters. It will probably run blocks of reruns of old network series to fill out the schedule. A few people suggested that a combined X-Play and AOTS on the right network could find an audience. However, the demographics of the core viewer is changing; video game industry sales have peaked, and in the last quarter fell by more than one percent. The gadget appetite for new smartphones, tablets and readers has reached the consumer saturation level. The showing of viral videos have found its own internet corral called YouTube. Movie companies are streaming movie trailers on their corporate facebook pages. It seems that the entertainment distribution channels are fracturing like a Southern California fault line. So it is not the fault of the original G4 programs. There place in the Internet, pop culture information world has been bulldozed over by the things they used to cover: the Internet, boom of viral videos, You Tube channels and streaming content from one's own game consoles like Playstation or X-Box. The youth of today don't need a dedicated network program to tell them where to look; they are out surfing constantly finding their own entertainment content on the web. Even though we live in a highly tech society, networks have been slow to jump on the geek bandwagon. Television executives are mostly counterintuitive. They copy popular programs to ride viewship waves. The Big Bang Theory success of having a nerdy sit-com has slowly turned into a genre to be copied by other networks. For example, TBS is starting a new geeky gameshow called King of the Nerds, to be hosted by some of the cast of the decades old movie, Revenge of the Nerds. It is ironic that the canceled X-Play and AOTS themes are now getting popular. So why is a show like AOTS unable to survive when the trend is actually moving toward its format? Timing and a poor ratings track record. Often, the pioneering trailblazers are lost to history, especially in television. You are only as good as your last ratings book. AOTS never had a huge audience. It never had the ratings to capture high margin, repeat advertising accounts. It was on an obscure cable network that was at the bottom rung of its corporate ladder. So the G4 original programs will fade away much like the original TechTV shows that preceded them. Some of the hosts will find other work in the tech field, most likely on Internet sites or small YouTube channel programs (if those new networks continue to find angel funding to survive another year). Some of the hosts may go back into acting or comedy clubs. But they are making the most of their long cancellation landing, as the final shows will air on December 20, 2012 (the day before the End of the Mayan Calendar). Both shows have picked up steam and satirical doom that made the original shows so fun and entertaining in the beginning. Instead of going out on a whimper, they plan on going out with a big bang (in theory).
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cyberbarf THE WHETHER REPORT |
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| Question: Whether the Amazon Internet sales tax collection will surpass 25 states in the next four years? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
| Question: Whether there will be an Internet advertising and paid search bubble that will burst in the next four years? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
| Question: Whether technology manufacturing will in the next four years move from Taiwan and China to smaller Asian countries like Indonesia? |
* Educated Guess * Possible * Probable * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt * Doubtful * Vapor Dream |
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