It appears to be game over — for good this time — for G4 TV.

Comcast Spectacor, the sports and esports division of Comcast, said it's shutting down the gaming-focused linear network, effective immediately, 11 months after launching a reboot. Forty-five jobs will reportedly be eliminated. 

“Over the past several months, we worked hard to generate interest in G4, but viewership is low and the network has not achieved sustainable financial results,” Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dave Scott wrote in a Sunday memo. “This is certainly not what we hoped for, and, as a result, we have made the very difficult decision to discontinue G4’s operations, effective immediately.”

G4 was originally launched in 2002 as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and Dish Network. Distribution had grown to more than 61 million pay TV subscribers by 2013, when G4 was rebranded as the Esquire Network amid a licensing deal with Hearst Corp., owner of Esquire magazine. 

G4 was re-introduced as an IP channel in July 2020, available on YouTube and social media. And last November, Comcast Spectator relaunched it as a linear channel on Xfinity TV, Verizon Fios, Cox Communications and Philo. The network also had a multi-year agreement with Twitch. Programming included the long-running Attack of the Show! and XPlay, as well as a series based on the venerable role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. 

“As you know, G4 was reintroduced last year to tap into the popularity of gaming. We invested to create the new G4 as an online and TV destination for fans to be entertained, be inspired, and connect with gaming content,” Scott added. “I know this is disappointing news, and I’m disappointed, too. I want to thank you and everyone on the G4 team for the hard work and commitment to the network.” ▪️

G4, the recently relaunched network, started appearing Monday on Pluto TV, the first streaming service to carry G4 Select, its free-ad supported channel.

Content on G4 Select includes classics such as Attack the Show!, Ninja Warrior and Xplay, new content including Name Your Price and Scott The Woz, esports events and interviews.

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“We’re thrilled to partner Pluto TV to deliver G4’s content to their U.S. audience,” said Russell Arons, president, G4. “The OTT space, specifically FAST, has seen tremendous growth over the last couple of years, including an increase in demand for gaming content. The addition of Pluto TV to our unique distribution model provides G4 yet another opportunity to reach and serve our fans on the platforms they love.”

“G4 was a pioneer in gaming entertainment. As Pluto TV continues to ramp up offerings in the gaming space, we love that G4 is the perfect blend of current gaming culture, coupled with the nostalgic offerings that our viewers crave,” added Scott Reich, senior VP of programming at Pluto TV. “The relaunch of G4 gives gamers, creators and fandoms alike more options to experience the thrill of gaming and the content they love - all for free on Pluto TV.”

G4 content is also distributed on a linear pay-TV channel distributed by Verizon Fios, Cox, Xfinity TV and Philo.

G4 also collaborates with Twitch on a multi-year promotional and commercial partnership through G4’s official Twitch channel. In addition, it creates channel-specific content across its social media platforms and YouTube. ■

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.   

Espial, a supplier of video software and user interface technologies, has launched G4, a fourth-gen set-top box client for cable operators, telcos, satellite TV and other types of video service providers that can weave together linear, on-demand and Internet-based content into a uniform interface.

G4, the Ottawa-based company said, can integrate third-party recommendation engines and run on most set-top box platforms, including devices outfitted with the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for IP and QAM/IP hybrid set-tops and gateways that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Three unnamed operators – one “major” MSO in North America and two in Western Europe -- have selected G4 for their next-gen video platform, Jeff Huppertz, Espial’s vice president of marketing and business development, said. All three operators in question have at least 1.5 million subs, and about 8 million between them, he said, noting that they are also discussing G4 implementations on the RDK.  

Of Espial’s trio of MSO customers committed to G4, the one in North America is tapping the platform to power an new all-IP platform, while the two in Europe will use it for their respective hybrid QAM/IP networks.

Operators, Huppertz said, can use the HTML5-powered G4 platform to develop and roll out fluid, customized interfaces, and continue to add and tweak the look and capabilities of the interface.

“The operator owns the look and the experience…and making changes to [the UI] is as easy as changing Web pages,” Huppertz said, noting that pay TV operators have been stepping up their video interface development amid over-the-top competition and as programmers continue to enhance their own apps and launch or develop new stand-alone services.

But Espial has plenty of competition, including TiVo, which has had success with mid-sized tier 1s in the U.S. and some major ones in Europe, as well as from the operators themselves – Comcast and Charter Communications, for example, have developed next-gen video platforms largely through in-house projects. Time Warner Cable has also developed a cloud-based interface based on HTML5 that will run on the RDK.

Huppertz said the addressable market for G4 includes operators of all sizes that are still developing next-gen video strategies. “We think it’s a wide-open opportunity,” he said.

While G4 is a set-top box-focused client, Espial’s also has solutions operators can tap into to bring similar experiences to multiscreen devices.

Founded in 1997, Espial posted 2014 revenues of $20 million, a year-on-year increase of 59%. Mike Hayashi, the long-time TWC engineering exec who announced his retirement last year, recently joined the Espial board of directors.