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DirecTV Drops Comcast's G4 Network
Argues ratings indicate nobody will miss it...
Though many of our regular readers stopped watching the channel after a Comcast purchase transformed it from TechTV to "insane boobies and wrestling explosion" (aka G4TV) -- DirecTV says they're no longer carrying Comcast's G4 network. "We are constantly evaluating our lineup in a new world where programming costs continue to rise at significant rates," says a DirecTV spokesman. "Since G4 is among the lowest rated networks based on the latest Nielsen data, we decided that it made sense to focus on preserving programming that is more relevant to our larger customer base," the spokesman said.
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kdwycha
join:2003-01-30
Ruskin, FL

1 recommendation

kdwycha

Member

I have to agree....

...after TechTV turned into G4TV is really started to suck. Nothing really tech related on it anymore and it seems every time I pass by the channel they have old episodes of Cops or something else lame playing.

powerspec88
Premium Member
join:2007-03-11
Lees Summit, MO

powerspec88

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

After The Screen Savers changed over to Attack of the Show, I stopped watching, and the station just went down hill from their. I miss shows like Icons, Call for Help, and Eye Drops.

kdwycha
join:2003-01-30
Ruskin, FL

kdwycha

Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by powerspec88:

After The Screen Savers changed over to Attack of the Show, I stopped watching, and the station just went down hill from their. I miss shows like Icons, Call for Help, and Eye Drops.
Yeah. The Screen Savers was cool and some of the other programming TechTV used to have.

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight

Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by kdwycha:

said by powerspec88:

After The Screen Savers changed over to Attack of the Show, I stopped watching, and the station just went down hill from their. I miss shows like Icons, Call for Help, and Eye Drops.
Yeah. The Screen Savers was cool and some of the other programming TechTV used to have.
Tech Live, Call 4 Help with Locker Gnome (You may better know him as Chris Pirillio) and Kat, Unscrewed with Martin Sergeant, The Screen Savers with: Patrick Norton, Megan, Leo Laporte, Kate, Kevin Rose, Martin Sargeant, Morgan Webb (before she left to Extended Play), John C. Dvorak, the late James Kim, Yoshi, etc; Extended Play with Adam Sessler (and later Morgan Webb, previously Kate and Lauren), Eye Drops, Cinema Tech, Fresh Gear (with Sumi Das), Robot Wars (Who didn't like it?), etc.

I miss TechTV.

N10Cities
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
0000000

1 edit

N10Cities

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

-nm--....someone already linked to the TWIT site and Tekzilla...

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

how dare you how dare you bring back memories of the late great ZDtv/TechTV I miss those

as for G4 nope no one will miss it may it fade away
OHN
join:2003-02-05
Appleton, WI

OHN to PapaMidnight

Member

to PapaMidnight
Yeah I remember James Kim. Real sad.

Fir_Na_Tine
Time to get riggity riggity wrecked son
Premium Member
join:2001-01-03
South Jersey

Fir_Na_Tine

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by OHN:

Yeah I remember James Kim. Real sad.
Just read the story on him. Wow that is sad how he went, at least his family survived.

As for G4TV I hope it goes under, all they show is movies, cops and crap shows. Kinda like the Sci-fi Opps I mean SyFy channel showing wrestling. TechTV was the real deal, great shows with great hosts. Learned a lot from those shows.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

wow I just read it very sad indeed
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory to Fir_Na_Tine

Member

to Fir_Na_Tine
You think SyFy is bad now, wait until Comcast gets their hands on it with this NBC merger. Man, SciFi used to be totally great, but has gone downhill a bit recently when they tried to appeal to a larger audience, got rid of some great shows, and added WWE. Actually, that sounds like G4.... Oh no!
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: I have to agree....

You also have Current TV which Comcast owns 10% of, that has also gone to hell after getting rid of all their own content, making itself a clone of G4 and licensing crap shows and reruns.

Toropop
join:2001-11-11
Vancouver, WA

Toropop

Member

Re: I have to agree....

Ugh... so disappointing about current_. I used to watch it non-stop until it started getting too "commercial".
c4junk
Premium Member
join:2004-05-08
Orlando, FL

c4junk to jjeffeory

Premium Member

to jjeffeory
Ditto that- SyFy use to be soo good, every Fri night was SyFy night but now there may be 2 hours per WEEK worth watching, sad

DrModem
Trust Your Doctor
Premium Member
join:2006-10-19
USA

DrModem to PapaMidnight

Premium Member

to PapaMidnight
said by PapaMidnight:

I miss TechTV.
It still exists... it's just called TWIT
grafenberg
join:2002-02-01

grafenberg to PapaMidnight

Member

to PapaMidnight
TechTV(with *those* shows) was the reason I initially got DirecTV.

I don't think I've ever watched an episode of any show on G4.

Parogadi
What? Stop Looking At Me Like That
Premium Member
join:2003-03-31
Racine, WI

Parogadi to PapaMidnight

Premium Member

to PapaMidnight
No love for Portal?

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese to powerspec88

Premium Member

to powerspec88
SS/C4H were awesome shows

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to powerspec88

Premium Member

to powerspec88
But Leo Laporte was always a big idiot. I've had it on and off depending on what TV service I use and I know I'm not missing everything.

obeythelaw
Premium Member
join:2003-04-16
Warren, NJ

obeythelaw to kdwycha

Premium Member

to kdwycha
agree. it was a waste of a channel. there wasn't any new compelling programming on that channel. kudos to directv.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by obeythelaw:

agree. it was a waste of a channel. there wasn't any new compelling programming on that channel. kudos to directv.
The free market at work. A lousy network loses business and eventually will go dark.

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight

Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by FFH5:

said by obeythelaw:

agree. it was a waste of a channel. there wasn't any new compelling programming on that channel. kudos to directv.
The free market at work. A lousy network loses business and eventually will go dark.
I suppose it's ironic, considering Comcast dropped TechTV. I'd gone to DishNetwork right before it happened and thus was able to keep the network.

Now G4TV is Cops, Cops, Cops, AOTS, Cops, Cops, Cops, Campus PD, Campus PD, Campus PD, Ninja Warrior, Ninja Warrior, Cops, Cops, Infomercial. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

Boricua
Premium Member
join:2002-01-26
Sacramuerto

1 recommendation

Boricua

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by PapaMidnight:

Now G4TV is Cops, Cops, Cops, AOTS, Cops, Cops, Cops, Campus PD, Campus PD, Campus PD, Ninja Warrior, Ninja Warrior, Cops, Cops, Infomercial. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
So far, the only thing I like is Ninja Warrior. It's a fun show and I like how some sacrifice themselves to go all the way. Other than that, no love for that channel. I have U-Verse and if they decided to drop that channel I wouldn't even miss it.
saratoga66
join:2002-08-22
Saratoga, CA

saratoga66 to PapaMidnight

Member

to PapaMidnight
said by PapaMidnight:

said by FFH5:

said by obeythelaw:

agree. it was a waste of a channel. there wasn't any new compelling programming on that channel. kudos to directv.
The free market at work. A lousy network loses business and eventually will go dark.
I suppose it's ironic, considering Comcast dropped TechTV. I'd gone to DishNetwork right before it happened and thus was able to keep the network.

Now G4TV is Cops, Cops, Cops, AOTS, Cops, Cops, Cops, Campus PD, Campus PD, Campus PD, Ninja Warrior, Ninja Warrior, Cops, Cops, Infomercial. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
You could not have kept TechTV after Comcast dropped it. Comcast purchased TTV and then merged it will the existing G4 network. It disappeared for everyone.

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

Jodokast96

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by saratoga66:

You could not have kept TechTV after Comcast dropped it. Comcast purchased TTV and then merged it will the existing G4 network. It disappeared for everyone.
Not true. Just prior to buying TechTV, Comcast dropped it in a lot of markets. It's thought this was done to drive down the price.
rahvin112
join:2002-05-24
Sandy, UT

rahvin112 to saratoga66

Member

to saratoga66
Your reading comprehension sucks. Comcast dropped TechTV from their lineup BEFORE they purchased it and AFTER they created G4. It was 6months to a year later that they purchased TTV and then promptly killed it.
saratoga66
join:2002-08-22
Saratoga, CA

saratoga66

Member

Re: I have to agree....

In my area TTV was available until the day it died. I remember when they announced the purchase by Comcast on TTV and the hosts seemed to be happy thinking this was a good thing for them. Little did they know.....

If Comcast dropped TTV from some areas sometime before the purchase I was not aware of that but I'm sure they didn't drop from their systems after the purchase prior to the merge. It would not make sense to drop their own channel.

G4 was operating at least a couple of years before the purchase/merger.

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

I never knew this....Slimey Comcast.

TechTV acquisition

As early as 2002, Comcast, the parent company of G4 dropped TechTV from its channel lineups, giving preference to its G4 network and reducing the value of TechTV in the hopes of a possible merger of the two networks. On March 25, 2004, Vulcan Inc. confirmed that they sold TechTV to G4 Media which merged both channels to become G4techTV.[8] Days before the announced sale, Comcast made plans to close the original TechTV production facilities and workforce located in San Francisco, California, and offered new network headquarters in Los Angeles with openings for 80-100 of the TechTV employees available if they were willing to relocate. Hirschhorn headed the combined entity. Networks carrying both channels shut down the TechTV channel post-merger, while G4 enjoyed expansion onto systems carrying only TechTV and not G4 as a result of the merger.

On February 15, 2005, less than a year after the merger, the letters, "TechTV", were officially dropped from the channel's name in the U.S. and the channel became known again as G4.[9] However, on the network's affiliate in Canada, the "TechTV" letters remained a part of the name until mid-2009, when the channel was renamed G4 Canada. The only remaining TechTV originated show on G4 is X-Play, which also features Adam Sessler, who has been a part of the TechTV Network since its creation in 1998 as ZDTV.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: I have to agree....

Yup, I knew this, hence my earlier comment. Comcast took an interesting network, merged it and made it suck....

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

I didn't know Comcast owned G4 to begin with.
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Re: I have to agree....

Here's the wiki with many of the glorious details on the channel and the G4 takeover...

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TechTV
Expand your moderator at work

myosh
join:2001-05-03
Cupertino, CA

myosh to saratoga66

Member

to saratoga66
said by saratoga66:

In my area TTV was available until the day it died. I remember when they announced the purchase by Comcast on TTV and the hosts seemed to be happy thinking this was a good thing for them. Little did they know.....
Same here. Comcast carried TechTV until it merged with G4. As far as the hosts being happy about the merger... NOT! The on-air hosts had to put on the happy face because they were trying to save their shows and jobs. IIRC, Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton were never "happy" about the merger. Even today, they still take occasional pot shots at G4, Charles Hirschorn and Comcast.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

The free market at work.
I hope that is sarcasm. No free market when it comes to TV.

realtime8
@comcast.net

realtime8 to FFH5

Anon

to FFH5
Stop it with this free-market crap,

there's never been a country that has successfully run on pure private market, there must be some government regulation. look it up, it's actually basic economics, like most republicans, you never learn economics or "facts" or just completely ignore it to gain political points.

Stop relating this stuff to politics, has nothing to do with it at all. Why do you even post, just to promote your ignorance?

••••••

cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties to kdwycha

Premium Member

to kdwycha
Yeah...Laporte was entertaining but they axed him for some cuties (hey, sex sells...too bad what's-her-face was a little too cocky along with that pretentious whats-his-name...

They marketed the channel to an age group that, well, is online playing Xbox or PC games! What did they think??? Hey, get your hints here, look, boobies you teens in the basement! Look!

myosh
join:2001-05-03
Cupertino, CA

myosh

Member

Re: I have to agree....

said by cableties:

They marketed the channel to an age group that, well, is online playing Xbox or PC games! What did they think??? Hey, get your hints here, look, boobies you teens in the basement! Look!
That may have been true for G4 but TechTV also appealed to the older group of tech and IT professionals as well as the young gamers.

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28 to kdwycha

Premium Member

to kdwycha
G4 TV sucks no more Patric Norton or Leo laporte they really turned the channel in to garbage I have not watched it in years.
dellis9
join:2002-09-22
Des Plaines, IL

dellis9

Member

Re: I have to agree....

You do know these guys still do their own video podcasts right? Go to »www.revision3.com and check out HD Nation to see Patrick. And check out »twit.tv/ttg to see Leo.
pimpinparker
join:2005-06-14
North Baltimore, OH
·AT&T FTTP

pimpinparker to kdwycha

Member

to kdwycha
I'm happy to see it go because I'm still angry about how they ruined the network about 5 years ago.

Maybe this will send a message to G4 and they will think to themselves... "What are we doing wrong that no one will miss our crappy network?", WE'LL READ THE FORUM POSTS ON ALL THE WEBSITES AND SWITCH BACK TO TECHNOLOGY AND VIDEO GAMES!

Honestly though G4 will probably just get shut down. Only MTV can get away with showing programs completely opposite to the shows that the channel name suggests. Well I guess since the dropped the "TechTV" G4 doesn't really mean anything.

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium Member
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX

DarkLogix

Premium Member

Re: I have to agree....

they could become MTV4 just drop 1 letter and pick up 3
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88 to pimpinparker

Member

to pimpinparker
said by pimpinparker:

Honestly though G4 will probably just get shut down. Only MTV can get away with showing programs completely opposite to the shows that the channel name suggests. Well I guess since the dropped the "TechTV" G4 doesn't really mean anything.
G4 will never be shut down. They barely make any shows in house. They are just a bunch of tape decks in a datacenter. Will Hallmark or TVLand ever get shut down? No. The networks only operating cost is the licensing of the shows.

sholling
Premium Member
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA

1 edit

sholling to kdwycha

Premium Member

to kdwycha
I have to agree. TechTV and The Screen Savers rocked. The age demographic was 13-60. Now it's strictly 13-15y/o boys with no hope of a first date - ever. And with their best eye candy (Olivia) gone there isn't much reason for even them to waste even 5 minutes a week on it. If they were smart they'd bring back the TechTV format and Leo and company.

Parogadi
What? Stop Looking At Me Like That
Premium Member
join:2003-03-31
Racine, WI

Parogadi to kdwycha

Premium Member

to kdwycha
The only thing of value they had left was Sasuke.
moonpuppy (banned)
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD

moonpuppy (banned)

Member

Want to know how to kill a channal?

Ask Comcast. G4 had a few shows I found interesting (Ninja Warrior, Bansuki, etc.) the rest were just worthless.

Now that Comcast owns NBC, watch that network go downhill.

Now, if Comcast wants to save G4, they could always force bundle it.

•••••
bengalvfan
join:2001-01-21
Bellbrook, OH

bengalvfan

Member

long live the screen savers

that show was awesome on tech tv.... where are they now

•••

landry98
join:2001-08-31
Red Stick

landry98

Member

preserving programming that is more relevant

like:

Liquidation channel or
Gem Shopping network or
QVC or
Jewelry TV or
ShopNBC or
America's Shopping network or
HSN

and all the great commercials (local Toyota dealer is still trying to figure a way to air his goods, wait for it)

•••••••

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

G4 No More

While Attack of the Show was nowhere near as good of a show as Screen Savers, it had it's moments. I liked Ninja Warrior as well, and still found X Play to actually give decent game reviews. After that, not much of interest on that channel.

sholling
Premium Member
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA

sholling

Premium Member

Re: G4 No More

said by cbrigante2:

While Attack of the Show was nowhere near as good of a show as Screen Savers, it had it's moments. I liked Ninja Warrior as well, and still found X Play to actually give decent game reviews. After that, not much of interest on that channel.
ATOS had its moments but is floundering after the loss of Olivia. Not that it was ever all that good but it did have decent news and reviews. But it's gone from juvenile to stupid.
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

1 edit

brianiscool

Member

hah

The whole channel is terrible. I don't know how there still on the air.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: hah

They make almost no content. The channel is nothing but 10 tape decks of Cops in a rack in Comcasts datacenter. Aslong as the ads pay for the rerun licensing, heck, the rerun licensing agreement can be solely 25% of all ad revenue, regardless of amount of ad impressions lol

spewak
R.I.P Dadkins
Premium Member
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA

spewak

Premium Member

Lowest rated

G4TV is awful.
Comcast has kept that channel alive for reasons only known to them. They screwed up TechTV and now there is no putting the genie back in the bottle.

•••

SandShark5
Long may you run
Premium Member
join:2000-05-23
Santa Fe, TX

1 recommendation

SandShark5

Premium Member

I'm surprised...

...it lasted as long as it did. TechTV rules ruled! Martin Sargent was whacked.

•••

Ctrl Alt Del
Premium Member
join:2002-02-18

1 edit

1 recommendation

Ctrl Alt Del

Premium Member

Screw Comcast

I continue to watch TechTV with no help from Comcast. G4 is a useless channel.

»www.twit.tv
»www.revision3.com
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Nice way for Directv to smack down comcast!

Nice way for Directv to smack down comcast!

•••••••••

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

WHAT?

I didnt watch it all the time but watched it here and there. They had some decent shows on now and then. Why didnt they tell us they were going to get rid of it before? Does DISH Network carry G4TV? Gives me a reason to leave directv since contracts up.

UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

UHF

MVM

Re: WHAT?

said by Duramax08:

Does DISH Network carry G4TV?
Yes, it is on Dish ch 191. They also carry the HD feed of G4.

Sabre
Di relung hatiku bernyanyi bidadari
join:2005-05-17

Sabre

Member

Fallen too far.

I liked the old, old G4, largely because I could always put it on and find something videogame-related that would at least serve as background noise while I worked on something else. Cinematech showed me a lot of games I wouldn't otherwise have known about (Vib-Ribbon says "HI!") and Arena was surprisingly more interesting than I'd expected.

When they axed Starcade, though, it was the beginning of the end. I think DirectV's right that no one will miss it. (I didn't need one hyper-macho SpikeTV, what would I need two of them for?)
slcpd6469
join:2003-09-25
Saint Louis, MO

slcpd6469

Member

Cops Reruns

Where am I supposed to get my 12 straight hour fix of COPS re-runs now????

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

1 recommendation

Jodokast96

Premium Member

How many remember?

How many of you remember when it really all began, as ZDTV? Every time I catch Erica Hill on CBS I can't help but think about watching her all those years ago in her first TV gig.

•••••••
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Garbage

G4 has been mostly garbage since TechTV was killed off. About the only thing that's watchable is the Saturday night movie (Movies that Don't Suck, as they call it). Other than that, utterly forgettable channel.

However, once Comcast gets NBC, look for them to bundle it with NBC programming in retransmission consent negotiations. I guess all we can do is pray that G4 dies before that happens.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Comcast - the kiss of death

Remember when WinAmp was good . . . and then AOL bought them? The same thing happened here. TechTV was excellent, then Comcast bought it and tuned it into pure unadulterated crap. I'm glad DirecTV dropped it from their offerings . . . even a test pattern would be better than G4.

•••

TheBionic
Funkier than a mohair disco ball.
Premium Member
join:2009-07-06
united state

TheBionic

Premium Member

I would miss it...

Yes they got rid of almost all of their good shows and run endless cops marathons but I still enjoy Attack of the Show and X-Play, I watch them both several times a week. I understand DirecTV's decision but I'd miss that hour and a half of programming.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Argues ratings indicate nobody will miss it...

you can say that for at least half the channels on satellite or cable.
88615298

1 recommendation

88615298 (banned)

Member

For those happy about this

Remember DirecTv isn't going to lower your bills, so I'm not sure what's to be happy about. If you don't like a channel you're free not to watch it. My cable company coud get rid of every channel I don't watch and if they aren't lowering my bill then I 'm not jumping up and down with joy.

•••••••••••
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO
·Google Fiber

me1212

Member

How the mighty have fallen.

I remember when it was techtv, I watched it from time to time. Then about 5 months after it went to g4 I watched it every day for a looooong time. Game makers, icons(i think was the name) cheat, and x-play. After game makers and icons got pulled, they started showing cheat less and less, and x-play became biased against the wii(well at least me and ALL of my friends think so, idk if its still like that, and for the record I think all gaming platforms are good in their own way). they started showing mostly cops and cheaters(the fuck do they have to do with games/nerds!?!?!?) that dont suck was nice while it lasted, but now g4 has nothing I want to watch and I fell no need to watch it anymore. I can honestly say I hope dish follows dtv in dropping the crap.
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