Channel 188 was the former G4, a cable TV network owned by NBCUniversal that broadcasted video games, technology, and men’s interests. G4 was started in 2002 was owned by Comcast got high ratings and was able to access more than sixty million households. However, the channel became an issue in the last few years, experiencing a drop in viewership and an unclear position within NBCUniversal. This was preceded by Dish Network removing the G4 channel from its offerings at the close of 2020.
The Decline of G4
At the end of the 2000s, G4 discovered a niche audience mainly young male viewers through programs like «Attack of the Show! », and «X-Play» – this show was a mixture of gaming news, comedy, coverage of technologies, and lifestyle. However, as gaming coverage and esports were progressing rapidly online and new male-oriented TV channels such as Vineland were emerging, the audience of G4 was rapidly shrinking. This only covered roughly around 35 million homes by the year 2014.
Although Comcast had acquired NBCUniversal, which owns G4, it tried to do a revival of G4 in 2017 to elevate the content and image of the company. However, this was not accomplished, and the channel persisted in losing distribution contacts. By 2019, G4 was reaching only approximately 25 million households across a few providers including Dish Network, Verizon Fios, and Cox Communications. It was also facing issues such as repeated airing and stale content being provided to the audience.
This is the End of the Line
It was not until late 2020 that NBCUniversal finally decided to shut down on G4 since it was no longer financially feasible and was not relevant to the existing entertainment industry. In a statement made on November 30, 2020, Dish came out to confirm that it had pulled out G4 on Channel 188 across all the states in the US but was replaced with the Sony Movie Channel. Other providers, such as Verizon Fios, also moved to remove G4 around this time as well.
The exit from Dish is what most probably signified the death knell to G4 as a cable channel that is widely accessible, having lost more than 93% of its distribution in the past decade. The main reasons for DISH not providing further explanation on the decision to drop carriage of G4 have not been elaborated other than the fact that the network has been witnessing a declining viewership. As viewers and gamers migrated to streaming and YG, the critics had long anticipated the shuttering of G4 by saying, ‘We told you so’.
I have two questions: G4 moved to a new channel number so what was on channel 188 before G4 left it?
Since G4 has been out of Dish’s roster, Dish then moved on and swapped G4’s position on Channel 188 for Sony Movie Channel in December 2020. This station has adopted the niche of airing entertainment movies from Sony Pictures from the decade of 1970s.
This was as part of Dish reaching an agreement where it would air multiple channels owned by Sony such as Sony Movie Channel and GSN (Game Show Network). It seems that Dish realized GSN and Sony Movie will be more beneficial to its subscribers than G4 with repeats and extremely low ratings.
Since replacing G4 with Sony Movie Channel, Dish could thus provide customers with more programs and services at a low extra cost. Considering that G4 had a limited viewership at that time, it is unlikely that most of the Dish Network users ever knew of the change. Specifically, Dish has not signaled whether anything besides Sony Movie Channel will at some point be on Channel 188.
The Future of G4
Even though all we can see now is that G4 the cable channel is virtually non-existent, NBCUniversal has even hinted at the possibility of possibly bringing back G4 in some capacity shortly. Later in 2021, it shifted its focus and announced plans to revitalize G4 as an online platform focused on gaming influencers and esports tournaments.
As for the specifics, it is still unknown but the launch of a direct-to-consumer streaming platform or a YouTube channel would allow NBCUniversal to resurrect G4 programming in a focused manner with the show being geared strictly towards gaming and tech enthusiasts. Nonetheless, Dish subscribers are unlikely to ever witness G4 on Channel 188 again, much less bear witness to the network’s evolution since online video has largely supplanted cable network fare. Indeed, for the next foreseeable period, Sony Movie Channel stays planted on Dish in that position.
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