The End of Gamer TV

Few things are as painful in life as seeing a good friend change for the worse. That’s exactly what’s happened to the G4 network. For those who aren’t aware, the once-loved cable channel created for gamers has currently only two programs fully devoted to gaming – the remaining lineup consists of trashy syndicated shows. Legions of disgusted gamers have expressed their outrage at G4’s radical format change by launching everything from anti-G4 websites to YouTube videos.

The trouble surrounding G4 can be traced back to its controversial dissolving of TechTV, a channel G4 merged with in March 2004. Following the network’s bizarre relocation of its headquarters from San Francisco (arguably the center of American videogame production) to Los Angeles, a new CEO took the helm in 2005. This new man-in-charge, Neal Tiles, decided to eliminate videogames as G4’s focus and concentrate on a more male-oriented lineup “peppered” with videogame culture. This saw the acquisition of many shows of questionable appropriateness like Cheaters, Cops and The Man Show as a means of competing with networks such as Spike.

“We’re going through a change. Guys like to play games, but not necessarily watch a bunch of shows with games on the screen,” Tiles told a reporter for Variety in 2005. “So what we’re doing now is expanding G4 from a network solely defined by videogames to one inspired by them.”

Yes, Mr. Tiles. We all know that The Man Show is truly inspired by videogames.
Despite its bold claims of being the fastest growing network on television, an article published in TG Daily in June 2006 reported that G4 was the least watched basic cable network in America. G4 has also been criticized for poor E3 coverage and having too cozy a relationship with advertisers.

The network more or less sealed its fate in January of this year when it debuted a Laguna Beach-style reality show called The Block which was panned by critics as a quagmire featuring a bunch of stoned-out white kids drinking and lusting after each other. This debacle on behalf of G4 was followed by the network changing its slogan from “Videogame TV” to “TV That’s Plugged In” this past March – officially acknowledging a new direction.

Alterations or not, though, we mustn’t forget that G4 is still the TV station that represents videogames. As if we don’t have enough trouble convincing parents and politicians that all gamers aren’t nerdy, drugged-out losers, this network certainly doesn’t help. Is there any chance of salvation for G4? The recent debut of Code Monkeys may be a baby step towards a revival, but for now “TV for Gamers” remains worm food.

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