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Canadian G4 Channel Stops Broadcast in September


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everydaygamer





PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:21 pm Reply with quote
I honestly thought it was already gone.
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Punch Drunk Marc



Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Posts: 1742
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:32 pm Reply with quote
I didn't know G4 was still around. It stopped in the US eons ago. A shame too because X-Play and the original Ninja Warrior were some of my favorite shows ever.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4428
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:45 pm Reply with quote
I started watching TechTv for the Anime Unleashed block, and when it switched to G4 it brought a lot of interesting shows about video games and licensed more anime. It's a shame that it degraded into basically a knock off of Spike, so I wasn't that sorry to see it go when the rebranding as Esquire was announced. Honestly, I didn't even know that NBC ended up just ending the network and rebranding a different one. Any of the programs I watched already ended, and most of the people that I would tune in to see left before then, so it wasn't worth my attention by then.
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Rob49152



Joined: 19 Dec 2014
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:13 pm Reply with quote
When it first started I watched that channel all the time. From The Screen Savers, to X-Play, Leos Lab and all the other related shows. It was great! Enjoyed it so much. I would be doing other things around the house but would listen to whatever was on.

Then it went all to hell and became the rerun hell of cheap to produce crap reality shows that no one in their right mind would watch.

It's good that the plug is officially being pulled. They screwed up the potential of what it could have been so badly that it should be taught in schools to future business people about supply and demand. And not listening to what people actually want.

Good thing that internet thing is not going away.
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Animechic420



Joined: 25 Sep 2012
Posts: 1727
Location: A Cave Filled With Riches
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:48 pm Reply with quote
G4 should come back.
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Mawdryn



Joined: 28 Feb 2006
Posts: 240
Location: St. Louis, MO. U.S.A.
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:00 pm Reply with quote
I was another that got into TechTV through Anime Unleashed. It introduced me to several anime that would ultimately become my all-time favorites, so I was always grateful for that block. Even after it became G4, I stuck around for the original Ninja Warrior and at least the first ten minutes every day of Attack of the Show!.

Although TechTV died much earlier, G4 really died back in 2012 when the decision was made to terminate all its original programming and have it run on auto-pilot with reruns of shows you could easily find on other channels. My local cable provider dropped the U.S. version of G4 a long time ago, but I knew the Canadian version was still running. Given that the Esquire Network gave up the ghost and died earlier this month, I'm not surprised that the Canadian G4 is doing the same.
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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 888
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:23 pm Reply with quote
Here's a YouTube video which explores the birth & downfall of G4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBwGOHntro
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:59 pm Reply with quote
I was completely unaware that G4 had a channel set up in Canada. Surprised It's amazing that it lasted as long as it did.
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theNightster



Joined: 14 Mar 2014
Posts: 1328
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 3:52 pm Reply with quote
The final nail in the coffin for the G4 brand, I still remember back in 05 I would watch X-play after school (this was way before the show got boring and replaced the skits with interviews with game developers) hopefully one day another attempt at a video game themed channel could happen, but I'm not holding my breath.
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7358
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 3:59 pm Reply with quote
Didn't know it was still in Canada either (or soon to be past tense anyway)

I miss TechTV though, I remember watching Lain and Silent Mobius. I was actually into TechTV before Anime Unleashed though, not sure if anyone else remembers a show of interesting CGI shorts called "Eye-Drops". I also watched the hell out of Thunderbirds, mostly because they played it a lot (and usually did marathons of it during holidays). At first, I was creeped out by it, but they just wouldn't stop playing it, so I somehow ended up watching it and getting into it.

It wasn't the same after it became G4, though I did enjoy it when they started playing weird Japanese shows (Ninja Warrior, sure, but anyone remember Unbeatable Banzuke? Where they'd do weird things like have people do obstacles courses while balancing on a single bike wheel or balancing a broom or entirely on their hands and you'd just look at it and go "how?")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSXb0Bjsvsg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NgxmNIM4J4

I'm honestly not sure if another TechTV would work these days though, technology has changed so much since it's heyday and really, a similar channel would probably just be entirely online. And man, I remembered watching X-Play back when it was still "Extended Play" and was in that arcade thing.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:13 pm Reply with quote
everydaygamer wrote:
I honestly thought it was already gone.


I assumed the US G4Tech was already gone, but in truth, no dying cable channel EVER dies, it just changes its name/programming to something even loopier, more micro-company ambitious, and desperately splinter-niche'd.

Quote:
The American G4 channel was also shut down at the end of 2014. Originally, NBCUniversal was going to rebrand the channel as Esquire, an upscale men's network, but the Style Network was rebranded instead.


Oh. Well, everything's in order, then. Very Happy
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GolfDude



Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 69
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:56 pm Reply with quote
most techtv alumni moved on to other ventures..

leo laporte runs his own 24/7 online tv network thats basically techtv online (tech related only) for the most part (twit.tv).. other techtv personalties have shown up on his shows on here from time to time as guests under his revived screen savers runs weekly there.

patrick norton has a youtube patreon show called "TekThing"

Kevin Rose was owner of the hugely popular digg.com website before he cashed out and sold it for millions and new ownership completely changed the site

and most people know where the x play crew ended up on tv since then
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Usagi-kun



Joined: 03 Jul 2013
Posts: 877
Location: Nashville, TN
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 7:21 pm Reply with quote
We go live to Mount Midoriyama, Japan!!!...mount green mountain?

I actually miss Code Monkeys...please forgive me for saying that. You would think a gaming network would gain a lot support across several cultures right now, but I guess all of that is focused on on individual streamers on Twitch and YouTube content. I wouldn't cry about crappy shows like Deadliest Warrior and Blue Mountain State though. Sorry Canada, it wasn't meant to be for you guys either. Neutral
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4428
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 9:05 pm Reply with quote
theNightster wrote:
The final nail in the coffin for the G4 brand, I still remember back in 05 I would watch X-play after school (this was way before the show got boring and replaced the skits with interviews with game developers) hopefully one day another attempt at a video game themed channel could happen, but I'm not holding my breath.


I never understood why they did that since the skits separated it from game news websites by making it entertaining. Once they changed, it was the same thing, only slower because it had to be produced for TV. The changes at G4 happened to coincide with me moving to an area that didn't carry the network, but by then, I didn't care since I was clearly no longer the audience for G4.
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Cerceaux



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Posts: 180
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 9:24 pm Reply with quote
Rob49152 wrote:
When it first started I watched that channel all the time. From The Screen Savers, to X-Play, Leos Lab and all the other related shows. It was great! Enjoyed it so much.
I used to watch Screen Savers in the morning before school, great show and I learned a lot watching it.
X-play was a little weird to me at first but once I got used to the scripted dialogue I found it pretty funny, especially when they were lampooning really bad games like Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis.
I guess a technology and game focused TV channel is not really in demand anymore since everyone is tech savvy enough to just get whatever information and news they want straight from the Internet.
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