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G4 was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
specialty television channel owned by
Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...
. The name was licensed from
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...
, whose parent company
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
formerly owned a minority stake in the channel. Based on the U.S subscription networks
TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. ...
and G4, the channel was originally focused on technology-themed programming. Rogers has been announced on most television service providers on July 5, 2017 that G4 will shut down on August 31, 2017, ending its 16 year run of the G4 brand.


History

On November 24, 2000, through a joint venture, Rogers Media (33.34%),
Shaw Communications Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...
(33.33%) and
TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. ...
US (33.33%) were granted approval by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) to launch a Canadian version of the U.S. television channel ''TechTV'', described by its nature of service as "providing programming about computing, technology and the Internet."Decision CRTC 2000-454
CRTC; 2000-12-14
The channel launched on September 7, 2001 as the Canadian version of TechTV. After months of speculation, on March 25, 2004,
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
announced it would acquire TechTV from Vulcan Programming Inc., with plans to merge TechTV with its own gaming-related channel, G4. As part of the purchase, Comcast acquired TechTV's 33.33% interest in the Canadian version, spinning it off into its subsidiary,
G4 Media G4 Media, LLC is an in-name only unit of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming which maintains the programming of G4, a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel dedicated to video games, along with its former competitor, TechTV/ZDTV. NBCUnivers ...
. The transaction was completed on May 10, and the American services were merged into
G4techTV G4techTV was a short-lived American cable and satellite channel resulting from a merger between Comcast-owned G4 and TechTV. The network officially launched on May 28, 2004. History On March 25, 2004, Comcast announced its plans to purchase ...
on May 28, 2004.Comcast: TechTV + G4 = G4TechTV
Multichannel News; 2004-05-10
TechTV Canada would follow suit and be renamed G4techTV. On February 15, 2005, less than a year after the merger, the American version was renamed back to ''G4''. In June 2006, Shaw Communications sold its interest in the channel to the managing partner, Rogers Media. At an unknown date, Comcast also sold its interest to Rogers, giving it full ownership. In 2013, the American version was scheduled to be rebranded as the
Esquire Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. The network carried programs aimed at a metrosexual audience centering on travel, cooking, sports and fashion ...
due to low ratings. However, at the last minute, its parent company decided to rebrand
Style Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. The network carried programs aimed at a metrosexual audience centering on travel, cooking, sports and fashio ...
instead due to the latter's more expanded pay-TV carriage. G4 Canada's
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
channels went dormant but still active after that point, with its website remaining in the same design since the early 2010s (though new content continued to be cycled in). G4 Canada launched a high-definition feed of its own on December 4, 2014, while its American counterpart ceased operations at the end of 2014. The channel's sole first-run shows, ''
EP Daily ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...
'' and ''
Reviews on the Run ''EP Daily'' (formerly ''The Electric Playground'') is a daily news television show that covers video games, movies, TV shows, comic books, collectibles and gadgets. Created and executive produced by host Victor Lucas, and his Vancouver, British ...
'' ceased broadcast after December 2015, as G4 Canada shifted away from technology-themed programming to more general interest programming. Much of the channel's schedule now consisted of series syndicated from other Rogers television channels, with the CRTC's required tech-related programming relegated to out-of-date library content aired in the morning hours. On July 5, 2017, ''Cartt'' reported via a Rogers representative that G4 would shut down on August 31, 2017, and that it would not be replaced with a new service. The channel shut down at midnight on that date. The channel space created by TechTV in 2001 ceased to exist shortly after. The representative cited "the current competitive television landscape" and a desire to focus on Rogers' "core specialty portfolio"; some of its programming were moved to
Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
. The CRTC approved the revocation of G4's licence in August 2017. On all cable providers, G4 was either replaced by
OLN OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language Category A specialty channel. OLN primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences. OLN is wholly owned by Rogers Sports & ...
or
TSC TSC may refer to: Organizations * Technology Service Corporation, a US engineering company * Terrorist Screening Center, a division of the National Security Branch of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation * The Shopping Channel, a Canadian televi ...
. By coincidence, G4's Canadian iteration outlasted both its American mother network and Esquire Network, G4's intended replacement, which ended all operations on June 28, 2017. Its American counterpart relaunched on November 16, 2021 with web availability of its content through
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
. The re-launch was short lived as the network would be shut down once again on October 16, 2022.


Programming

The channel primarily aired technology and gaming-related programming acquired from its American counterparts, along with several Canadian-produced series. During its final years, G4 would air reruns of shows sourced from Rogers' sibling networks.


Distribution

As a category 1 television service, G4 Canada carriage was mandatory for all
digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...
and
direct broadcast satellite Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
providers in Canada in English-majority markets with channel capacity. G4, under the name G4techTV, was broadcast internationally in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
. The government-owned
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is a public radio and television broadcaster, located in The Pine, St. Michael in Barbados. It was founded in 1963 as Radio Barbados. The CBC falls under the ministry and jurisdiction of the Prim ...
in Barbados switched from providing the American-based feed, in favour of the Canadian channel for its cable television network known as
Multi-Choice TV Multi-Choice TV (MCTV) is a television service provider in Barbados. It is a Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) or DVB-C wireless microwave-based broadcast subscription television provider. They offer a variety of packages which c ...
. The provider discontinued carriage before the network's shutdown.


See also

* G4 *
TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming. ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:G4techtv Canada G4 Media TechTV Rogers Communications Digital cable television networks in Canada Defunct Canadian television channels English-language television stations in Canada Television channels and stations established in 2001 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2017 2001 establishments in Canada 2017 disestablishments in Canada