Information About Channel 187 On Dish Network
Channel 187 was formerly known as G4 which is an NBCUniversal-owned cable television network that used to air video games, technology, and men’s lifestyle programming. G4 started in 2002 after Comcast bought it and the original idea was that the channel was going to be all about video games. Thus, it evolved over the years into general entertainment for young men, or rather for kids.
It was in the year 2010 that G4 was purchased by NBCUniversal. The new owners want to expand G4’s coverage with the addition of more programs for the viewers. However, to diversify the shows aimed at the video game audience that was G4’s initial target, more reality programs were added to the schedule, along with Campus PD, American Ninja Warrior, and repeats of Lost and Heroes. However, over the following years, the viewership of G4 began to dip once again, as it would continue to do for several more years.
The Decline of G4
There were a few key reasons for G4's decline in viewership and relevance:
- Around the growth of online video and streaming people turned to sites like YouTube or Twitch for their gaming content instead of tuning into a traditional cable TV channel.
- Brand dilution - Reality shows and on the other hand, increasing the amount of nonspecific content in G4 programming caused a problem that is like brand differentiation which is called brand confusion.
- Reduction in Cable TV consumption –The total audience of cable TV channels including the younger demography that G4 targeted was reducing because people were turning towards DVRs and online content.
By 2014, G4 had not been doing too well and was facing some challenges. Being a part of the channel, it was disheartening to note that ratings were a fraction of what they had been in the prosperous days of the channel. The main reason why NBCUniversal let go of G4 was because they found out that the investment needed to rebrand and restart the channel with new programs would not be worth the anticipated returns they would make.
The End of G4
During the early months of 2014, NBCUniversal made a statement that G4 would no longer be relevant after the end of that year, citing the costs it was incurring and the low viewership base the channel was attracting.
After a long 12 years, G4 came to an end in 2014 on November 30 in what was considered the final G4 retrospective with programs and episodes from the best moments of the show. Following that, NBCUniversal pulled G4 programming from cable networks for an indefinite period, and there have been no indications thus far as to where or when the gaming and entertainment network will return to television.
We will also attempt to find out what replaced G4 on the dish network after the channel was taken off the air.
When G4 ended operations in late 2014, what had been previously allocated to the channel on most cable/satellite providers was something else than what it had been known for: gaming.
Local station KMYA-DT joined Dish Network, replacing G4 which used to broadcast on channel 187 and was moved to vacant channel 186. KMYA-DT is a small television station that currently broadcasts locally produced programming as well as syndicated programming in the Little Rock, Arkansas market. Gone are the days of G4 and Dish used that open channel space to enhance the channel positioning for their loyal subscriber local programming.
The shows that used to air on G4 mostly consist of gaming and men’s entertainment content which is mostly accessed through third-party video hosting services such as YouTube and Twitch or occasional special or documentary programs on the other NBCUniversal networks. Yet, the G4 channel itself and the regular audiences it had garnered during its time have become a thing of the past. As with other forms of gaming content on the internet, the absence of G4 on Dish Network is but a testimony to the fact that the cable’s linear channel model is no longer sustainable in today’s on-demand entertainment platform. For those Dish subscribers who had the channel on their dial, they now find themselves tuning into a community station instead of one that targets the core gaming audience.
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