After an eight-year hiatus, Comcast Spectacor-owned video gaming culture network G4 will return to linear TV on Nov. 16, launching on Verizon Fios, Cox Communications, Comcast’s own Xfinity TV and Philo TV. 

G4 also said it also has struck a multiyear promotional and commercial partnership with Twitch, and will continue to create channel-specific content on YouTube and social media. 

“Since the initial announcement of G4’s revival at Comic-Con@Home last year, we’ve been in constant dialogue with our audience through the content we’ve produced,” G4 president Russell Arons said in a press release. “We made a promise to fans that we would build this network with their input and are proud to say that our promise has been kept. At G4, we never stopped playing and can’t wait to have our fans join us in our hilarious and fairly preposterous sandbox on November 16.”

The network will produce and deliver programming through its own Burbank, California, broadcast studio, which features a collaborative workplace and professional esports and gaming environment. 

“G4 was a pioneer for video games on television for12 years, long before businesses were focused on gaming. The credibility that comes with that cannot be manufactured,” G4/Spectacor Gaming chief revenue officer Josh Cella said in a press release. "As we gear up to launch, we are excited to unlock our portfolio of talent, creative marketing platforms, interactive programming and an innovative distribution model for business partners."

G4’s programming slate at launch will include new takes on legacy content like geek culture variety program Attack of the Show! with host Kevin Pereira, video game review show Xplay; and competition series Ninja Warrior. New programming includes weekly esports comedy series Boosted, ESL Gaming,  a partnership with gaming lifestyle company ESL Gaming to produce and broadcast several primetime esports programs and  Dungeon & Dragons Limited Series, a limited-run offering that debuts in the fall. 

Additional distribution, programming and content partnerships will be announced closer to the network launch.

G4 launched in 2002, the brainchild of former Disney exec Charles Hirschhorn.  The channel was replaced by short-lived brand experiment the Esquire Network in 2013,  and in 2020 moved over to another Comcast unit — Comcast Spectacor —  which, after a healthy dose of social media buzz around the channel, announced its revival later that year.   

Troubled Esquire Network, fresh off carriage losses with AT&T U-verse and DirecTV customers last month, has opted to shutter its linear channel and focus on digital distribution.

Esquire, which launched in 2013 on the former Style channel, was targeted at young men. Owners NBCUniversal and Hearst Magazines -- parent of Esquire magazine -- targeted the channel at upscale young men, the same segment they apparently are pursuing with the digital network. In a statement the network said it would continue to offer original programming through its direct-to-consumer offering expected to launch this spring. The companies would not say when Esquire Network will go off the air but said the linear network would wind down this spring. After the drop by AT&T-owned DirecTV and U-verse, on Dec. 15, the network was reported to be in about 45 million homes. 

“Since its launch, Esquire Network has seen consistent growth among total viewers and key demos and has delivered significant value to our advertising partners. Men today consume content on a variety of platforms and it is essential that we follow our viewers,” Esquire Network and E! Entertainment president Adam Stotsky said in a statement. “We are grateful to the team that has contributed to Esquire’s many successes to date, and this new strategy sets us up for the future.”

The direct-to-consumer product, available via Esquire.com, will also feature such shows as Car Matchmaker, Knife Fight, Brew Dogs and Best Bars in America, as well as two new original series, Borderland USA (working title) and Edgehill.

“We look forward to our continued partnership with NBCUniversal with this digital driven, forward-looking strategy, which reinforces the brand’s premium value proposition,” Hearst Magazines president David Carey said in the statement.

News of the switch to digital comes about a month after AT&T’s U-verse and DirecTV dropped the channel over what it said was part of a routine plan to periodically modify its channel lineups.

The made-for-TV couple from this season’s edition of The Bachelor — Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell — will be getting the hottest and most buzzworthy wedding gift that television can give: a spinoff series.

Their new series Ben and Lauren: Happily Ever After — premiering this fall on Freeform, sister cable network to The Bachelor’s home of ABC — will join a multitude of spinoffs from successful reality series franchises across the cable dial. In many cases, these off shoots perform as well or better than their parent shows in the ratings.

More than one-third of cable’s top 30 reality shows for the period of June 1, 2015, to May 31, 2016, were reality franchises and their respective extension shows, according to Nielsen. Such extensions, which can potentially cannibalize viewers from their parent series, were once considered a risky play for networks. Now, they are sought-after content with built-in brand recognition and an audience base that can be lured in without a great deal of marketing effort.

“Spinoffs are so big these days because it’s so hard to launch new series today … there’s so much content to choose from and it’s so hard to reach people with new ideas and a new series,” Shari Levine, executive vice president of production for Bravo, said. “When you are doing a spinoff you’re delivering a show to a ready-made viewer that’s somewhat susceptible. You don’t have to explain the concept to them. Half of the marketing is done for you.”

Related:'Deadliest Catch’ Hooks a Spinoff [subscription required]

For some cable franchises just one or two spinoff shows aren’t enough to satisfy the appetite of loyal viewers. Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise — which follows the lives of affluent housewives from various parts of the country — has branded a whopping nine separate series over the past decade.

GETTING HARDER TO ‘KEEP UP’

E! later this year will launch its limited reality series Rob & Chyna, focusing on the lives of celebrity couple Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna, another spinoff from the long-running series Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

VH1’s Love & Hip Hop, which chronicles the lives and relationships of hip hop and R&B musicians, has spawned three spinoff series: Love & Hip Hop: New York, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop Hollywood.

And the Atlanta version has spun off two series of its own, K Michelle: My Life and Stevie J & Joseline: Go Hollywood. And despite all the iterations from the original franchise, it seems viewers are singing the praises of virtually all of these series. Current seasons of Love & Hip Hop, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop Hollywood all finished among the top 15 most-watched reality series over the past year, according to Nielsen. The sixth season of parent franchise Love & Hip Hop averaged 3.3 million viewers (on a live-plus-7-day basis), topped only by the fourth season of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, which drew 3.6 million viewers.

Brand recognition is paramount when trying to break through in crowded television marketplace, E! and Esquire Network president Adam Stotsky said. Once a brand is established with viewers, he said, the ability to extend it over a multitude of programs gives networks a leg up on the competition.

E!’s Kardashians empire remains strong and fertile, according to Stotsky. Flagship Keeping Up With the Kardashians is still among the most-watched shows on cable, averaging 2.9 million viewers over the past year, besting all of its franchise extensions, which include I Am Cait, Kim and Khloe Take the Hamptons and Dash Dolls, as well as new series Revenge Body With Khloe Kardashian, to launch later this year.

“Given that competitive landscape and the marketing challenges faced in launching new franchises and brands from scratch, working off an existing base where viewers know who these characters are and the world they live in is like makes for an easier entry point for consumers, and alleviates some marketing pressure for the networks,” Stotsky said.

Still, a franchise extension isn’t a slam dunk. Producers must still find a viable new setting, location or character around which to build a spinoff series.

“You have to listen to your audience because they vote with their thumbs on the remote controls everyday,” Stotsky added. “It’s a balancing act — on the one hand, the opportunity to extend versus the risk of cannibalization and oversaturation, and that’s something we monitor.”

Discovery Channel decided to bring back contestants from its popular survival-themed series Naked and Afraid, challenging them to endure a much longer and tougher survival challenge in the buff via sophomore spinoff series Naked and Afraid XL, Denise Contis, executive vice president of development and production for Discovery, said. The result was another hit series for the network, with Naked and Afraid XL garnering 3.8 million viewers during its freshman run, beating out its predecessor’s 2.7 million viewers.

“The spinoff is authentically motivated by the contestants themselves, who are looking to push themselves even further,” Joe Boyle, executive producer of both series, said. “Instead of just that process of learning to work with one other human being, they’re learning to survive and work with a number of other human beings and the ramifications of that. It gives us a much larger playing field in terms of character development.”

EXTENSIONS OF ANOTHER KIND

Other networks are doing more unconventional franchise extensions. AMC, which this July will debut the Stephen David-produced Making of the Mob: Chicago — a spinoff of last year’s Making of the Mob: New York — also looked to basic cable’s top-rated scripted series, zombie thriller The Walking Dead, to beget Talking Dead, the reality genre’s most-watched series over the past year. The live recap talk show, hosted by Chris Hardwick, drew 6.3 million viewers during the period, according to Nielsen.

TV One is doing the complete opposite of AMC: It’s spinning off an episode of Unsung, its unscripted docuseries on popular R&B artists, into an original telefilm. An Unsung episode on the 1990s R&B singer Miki Howard served as the basis for Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story. Its June 12 debut drew more than 2 million viewers across multiple viewings, setting a network ratings record for an original film, said D’Angela Proctor, head of original programming and production for the African-American-targeted TV One.

As long as networks are serving viewers with unique content that fits within the confines of a particular franchise, there’s no such thing as too many spinoff s, Bravo’s Levine said. Along with the Housewives franchise, Bravo has already built multiple shows around such franchises as Million Dollar Listing, Married to Medicine and Below Deck.

“As long as it’s working, there isn’t a limit, but I don’t think you know until you actually do it,” she said.

NBCUniversal will host a single joint upfront presentation next month for the first time in company history, with cable amd broadcast, along with Spanish-language TV, taking the Radio City Music Hall stage together May 16.

Besides NBC entertainment, sports and news, the wingding will feature Bravo, CNBC, E!, Esquire Network, Golf Channel, MSNBC, NBC Universo, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, Telemundo and USA. In prior years, NBCUniversal held three upfront presentations, one apiece for broadcast, cable and Telemundo.

“As a media company, we have an unparalleled array of networks and digital platforms that reach the most audiences across all dayparts,” said Linda Yaccarino, chairman, advertising sales and client partnerships, NBCUniversal. “Our event will reflect the way we go to market as a unified portfolio which makes it easier for our clients to do business with us all together.”

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Adam Stotsky has been named president, E! Entertainment, adding responsibilities for all unscripted programming and development for the pop culture network. He had been general manager at E! and will continue overseeing all day-to-day operations of the network, NBCUniversal said, including news, digital, marketing, communications, research and acquisitions. He will also continue to be president at Esquire Network and he reports to Frances Berwick, president, lifestyle networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. 

Stotsky became GM at E! in 2014 and, in a release, NBCU credited him for leading the network’s ongoing growth (it cited January 2016 viewing increases of 35% among total viewers (632K) and 29% among A18-49 (356K) in primetime). It also credited him with successfully integrating E!’s news and digital divisions to enhance cross-platform content and create a more engaging social and interactive “E! News” experience. In January 2016, “E! News” had year-over-year viewership growth of 14% among A18-49 (325K), E! said.  

Esquire Network launched two and a half years ago and saw gains of 18% among A18-49 and 15% among M18-49 in 2015, the network said.

“Adam is an exceptional senior executive who has been successful in leading the teams at E! and Esquire Network and setting their strategic direction for future growth,” Berwick said in the release. “I am excited to announce his well-deserved promotion and expand his responsibilities at E! as we continue to build on our success as a multiplatform powerhouse offering exclusive access to celebrity lifestyles and the world of entertainment.” 

Before Esquire Network, Stotsky was general manager of G4. He previously has been president of marketing for NBC Entertainment and, from 2001 to 2008, had senior marketing positions at Syfy, most recently as Executive Vice President, Global Brand Strategy and Market Development. Before Syfy, Stotsky was VP of marketing at Discovery Communications. 

Esquire Network said an Oct. 21 marathon of Back to the Future movies and the second season of original series Car Matchmaker (hosted by Spike Feresten, pictured) contributed to making the NBCUniversal outlet the fastest growing of the top 60 cable networks in the month of October. Year over year gains were seen in key demographic groups adults ages 18-49 (51%), men 18-49 (46%) and anyone age 2 and older (46%) in primetime.

The Future movie trilogy -- pegged to the date when Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) travels to the future in Back to the Future Part II -- set primetime records for the network with 591,000 total viewers in primetime including 334,000 adults ages 18-49, the network said.  

Spotless, the first original scripted series on the Esquire magazine partnered network, premieres Nov. 14.  

Esquire Network has ordered a 10-episode docu-series chronicling the off-field action among four leading sports agents during the run-up to the 2015 National Football League draft. The Agent will premiere in July, the network said Tuesday (March 24).

The series aims to give viewers an insider's look at the business behind a sport that experienced a troubling 2014-15 season off and on the field. The production gained exclusive access to the four agents -- Jeff Guerriero, Peter Schaffer, Sunny Shah and Ed Wasielewski -- starting last summer, Esquire Network said, capturing contract negotiations, endorsement deals, recruiting, private clubs, training, and meetings with scouts and veteran NFL players, all in pursuit of securing the top draft pick.

Filming will continue at least through the NFL draft, which begins on April 30 and ends May 2.

With its mix of drama (the "ruthless pressure" of a "cutthroat world," as the network characterized it) and characters (who Esquire positions as "real-life Jerry Maguires"), The Agent appears to fit squarely into the network's gameplan to offer programming built around "a decidely masculine experience" but in a "tone of voice that's accessible to women," as Esquire Net president Adam Stotsky told Multichannel News last year.

While it aims to skew male, the network also wants to court women viewers watching with significant others as well as solo. "This is not the men's locker room," he said at the time. "Women are very welcome at the Esquire Network."

The Agent will join other character-focused football- and sports-themed series on the network, including Friday Night Tykes, The Short Game and Horseplayers.

The Agent is executive produced by Emmy winners Mark Herzog and Christopher G. Cowen of Herzog & Company/HCO (CNN's The Sixties) with Vincent DiPersio, also an Emmy-winning producer, and Josh Mamann. Nicole Zien from HCO is co-executive producer. Esquire Network did not reveal a specific premiere date.

Esquire Network senior vice president of communications Katherine Nelson is  joining NBCUniversal sibling networks Syfy and Chiller in the same role.

Nelson, who had been with Esquire since January 2013, will be responsible for overall commmunications strategy, program publicity and talent relations, the networks said. Based in New York and reporting to Dave Howe, president of Syfy and Chiller, she will oversee the networks’ communications teams in both New York and Los Angeles.

Two key projects coming up include planning the publicity strategy for two originals: scripted drama The Expanse starring Thomas Jane, and miniseries Childhood’s End, starring Charles Dance.

At Esquire, Nelson was a member of the executive team that launched the network in September 2013. She developed and executed the launch communications strategy and had direct oversight of publicity and talent relations for its original series and specials.

Howe said Nelson has "a truly unique background and deep experience in promoting high-quality, smart, provocative entertainment," adding, "She has proven herself to be strategic, creative and collaborative during her tenure at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment."

Prior to joining Esquire, Nelson had left the television industry after 20 years to join rocket and spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX, founded by entrepreneur and inventor Elon Musk, where she was vicepresident, marketing and communications. Her TV industry experience before that included a stint as vice president of communications at Discovery, where she was the lead communications strategist for such series as MythBusters and Dirty Jobs and the special Planet Earth. She also led, for more than 15 years, the network's "Shark Week" franchise publicity campaign. .

Bravo Media, a unit of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, has promoted Jerry Leo to executive vice president, program strategy, Lifestyle Networks & Production, adding responsibility for E! Entertainment and Esquire Network to his current duties at Bravo and Oxygen.

Leo will oversee strategic planning and programming across all four networks, working closely with research, marketing and creative to set series goals. Additionally, he will will continue to supervise Bravo’s production team from the creative side to operations and management, the company said.

During his tenure at Bravo, which he joined in 2005 as vice president, strategic program planning & scheduling, it has become a Top 10 network in the adults 18-49 and 25-54 demos. Most recently Leo oversaw Bravo's expansion into scripted series with one-hour drama Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and the upcoming half-hour comedy Odd Mom Out. He also spearheaded the strategic planning and production of reality series Million Dollar Listing franchise, Vanderpump Rules, Below Deck and Shahs of Sunset, as well as the Andy Cohen late-night talker Watch What Happens Live.

Leo added responsibility for strategic planning at Oxygen in 2013, when he led the scheduling strategy behind the network’s rebrandto target young, multicultural women.

Prior to joining Bravo Media, Leo was with MTV Networks, most recently as vice president, program planning for VH1, where he managed the program strategy for Behind the Music, Divas Live, Storytellers, Pop Up Video and popular franchises such as the “100 Greatest,” “I Love the 80s” and “Celebreality.”

Leo, based in New York, will continue to report to Frances Berwick, president, lifestyle networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, on matters pertaining to Bravo and Oxygen, and now will also report to Adam Stotsky, general manager of E! and president of Esquire Network.

“Jerry is a strong leader with extensive industry knowledge, keen programming instincts and his finger on the competitive pulse,” Berwick said. “His expanded role over all four brands enables us to align an overarching programming strategy and create impactful growth across all platforms."

Esquire Network has announced the third seasons for two series, Knife Fight and Brew Dogs, to air in 2015.

“Both Knife Fight and Brew Dogs increased their audiences in their second seasons by tapping into topics we know our viewers are passionate about – food, drink and travel – in a fresh and distinctive way," said Head of Original Programming for Esquire Network, Matt Hanna in a release.

The third season of Knife Fight, a show about an underground culinary competition, will air in The Gorbals Brooklyn and take on a different tournament style.

Well-known chefs Kris Morningstar and Naomi Pomeroy will judge in the new 16 episode season, hosted by Chef Ilan Hall and produced by Authentic Entertainment and Flower Films.

Brew Dogs is hosted by Scottish craft-beer enthusiasts James Watt and Martin Dickie, as they travel outside of the U.S. for the first time in the series. In the 10 episode show, they set out to discover everything there is to know about artisanal beers.

They will also be joined by Jay and Sean from Best Bars in America for a cross-over episode in Lousiville, KY. The series is produced by Custom-Redtail Media.

Esquire Network’s “Running Of The Bulls 2014” multi-night coverage netted a hospital-bed interview with Bill Hillman, the Chicago man who was gored in the right leg Wednesday by one of the bulls running in the street in Pamplona, Spain.

Hillman, who co-wrote a book called “How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona,” restated that he intends to run in the streets during the festival again, though he said “my wife doesn’t want me to run, of course.” Hillman said he was “feeling good, I’m not feeling any pain, thankfully,” though he wasn’t getting much sleep, what with all the people calling him for interviews. To view the Esquire Network interview, with hosts María Celeste and Guad Venegas, click this link.

NBCUniversal-owned Esquire Network is in the midst of eight straight nights’ coverage of the festival. Live coverage airs 2-2:30 a.m. ET (and 2-2:30 a.m. PT on tape delay) until Monday, July 14. There's also a YouTube channel.

Esquire Network is now available on a live-streaming basis as part of NBCUniversal’s TV Everywhere initiative.

Authenticated subscribers to the service, targeting upscale, urban viewers, can now access its programming on its new mobile iOS app Esquire TV Now iOS and online at esquiretv.com/NOW.

The Esquire TV NOW iOS app, which derives its name from the Bravo Now app, can be downloaded at the iTunes store or at esquireTV.com/App. Both platforms let users watch new and acquired programming on their iPhone, iPad, laptop or home computer live as it airs, watch episodes of series currently running on the network as soon as the day after their premiere , or encore past seasons of Esquire Network original shows. The Android version of the Esquire TV NOW app is set to launch later this summer with additional features.

Viewers/users can access long-form content through Esquire Network’s digital touchpoints on PCs, mobile devices, tablets and are also able to access through the apps and websites of all participating cable, satellite, and telco services, including AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Cablevision's Optimum TV, Charter, Comcast's Xfinity TV, Cox Communications, DirecTV, Dish, Mediacom, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS.

Esquire’s rollout continues NBCU’s expansion of its TVE portfolio. Last week, E! Entertainment joined the arena.

“Esquire TV NOW is the latest brand to expand our tv everywhere offerings across NBCUniversal’s portfolio, giving consumers even more ways to engage with their favorite content across multiple platforms anytime, anywhere,” said Alison Moore, executive and general manager, TV Everywhere.

Added network president Adam Stotsky: “We know that Esquire Network’s audience are early adopters who consume entertainment content as one element of their active lifestyle. It only makes sense for us to make it as easy and convenient as possible for our viewers to access and share our original programs whenever or wherever they want to view them.”

Among the top shows available to Esquire subscribers on its TVE vehicles: Lucky Bastards and Knife Fight. Next month, the second season of Brew Dogs (pictured), following its premiere across MVPD affiliate sites and apps, the network's website and YouTube one week prior to its linear bow on June 25, will also become TVE-available.