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Comcast Bails Out And Shuts Down G4TV

Network TV just can't seem to understand gamer culture
by B.J. Bunneh3000 Brown on October 21, 2022   

Less than a year after the relaunch of the nostalgia laiden gamer network G4, Comcast surprisingly has shut the channel down.

On October 16, a memo from Comcast Spectacor CEO Dave Scott leaked online detailing the network's demise. Surprisingly, the leak of the memo as well as the article managed to reach social media and the internet before G4 employees even received the memo.
 


Leadership Void

As the first year of G4 was going, the person at Comcast who was responsible for the relaunch with Comcast, Tucker Roberts, stepped away from his leadership role in March 2022 according to the Washington Post. This was barely 4 months into the relaunch of the channel. Next, the president of the channel, Russell Arons, stepped down back in August. Not to long after that, Comcast laid off a significant portion of the staff in mid September. Next thing you know, Talent such as Ovilee May, The Black Hokage, and even G4TV veteran and host of Attack of the Show Kevin Pereira left or 'allowed their contract to run out'. 

G4's relaunch seemed to take an arrow to the knee before it even got its sealegs. As the live content began to pour out of the studio, it was interesting to occasionally hear the talent joke about not having direction or being overworked. As the gaming world saw the short life span of Venn.tv, it was clear that the Youtuber/streamer centric talent that G4 had hired were unsure how to pivot from what they knew to what network TV wanted.

Their eSports content show BOOSTED aired only 15 episodes before being cancelled early in 2022. Gaming review mainstay show X-Play saw repeated stoppages to retool their format as well. All of the other shows that were being produced at the time, aside from Attack of the Show seemed very Youtube focused. With Venn beginning their content focusing on making Youtube and Twitch content, it was interesting to see G4's leadership seemingly follow the same path. 

Slowly, G4 began introducing shows like the comic book focused Fresh Ink with G4 comic book gurus B Comp and Kassem G and the gameshow esque Arena featuring WWE superstar Austin Creed and the amazing streamer/host Gina Darling. While these were rehashed versions of G4's old days, neither of these shows got a chance to grow their own fanbase. 


Who's To Blame?

After details from The Washington Post revealed the odd choices on where to spend money, one can only dream of what G4 could have been if it were allowed to continue. Even talent at G4 noticed that former fans regularly told them that they didn't even know the channel had returned.

As time goes on, talent and former employees will certainly spill the tea on their frustrations working for Comcast.

One thing is painfully clear however. These gaming channels need to find a way to produce network TV content to attract big name sponsors.

 

 

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