What happened to Gamer Television?

Maybe it‘s just me but when I am flipping through my satellite stations and land on G4 television to see COPS or Cheaters I die a little inside. I remember when Tech T.V. launched and I admit some of the shows were boring, but it was a good start, something to build upon. When G4 and Tech came together I said, there you go, now we have something going. Next thing you know all these non tech, non-gaming shows pop up and I honestly did not understand why.

I could understand one problem which is the fact that gamers and tech people would rather get their news online. I could also see some of the shows treated the viewers like that lady who called tech support because her “cup holder” was broken. However, there had to be better choice in their channel lineup other than Star Trek and Ninja Warrior (both shows I enjoy, just not on G4 T.V.)

One would think advertising wouldn’t be a problem with computer and gaming companies wanting to offer their products, but maybe it was the fact that they could not lock down their audience like Food Network or HGTV does. I admit I did not watch the channel all day, but mainly because they would repeat a bunch of shows which is just stupid in my book. I did like watching the gameplay videos they would show every now and then and sometimes they dedicated an entire half hour to them.

My belief is they did not take advantage of the wide world of gaming. For instance Comedy Central has the show about online videos that should have been on G4 years ago. They also did not take advantage of sections of gaming such as MMO’s. I am sure a half hour show about the top MMO’s if done right would garner a fan base. How about a tech show for advance people, sure it may go over the head of some, but it is one half hour out of the day where other tech people would actually want to tune in and not hear calls from Betty in Idaho talking about how her Packard Bell makes noise while trying to send pictures to her grandson.

What about getting some of the other big names to contribute, it is true G4 runs its own website and goes to events, but they could have teamed up with CNET and other industry people to create shows. Where was the IGN show, or the Slashdot news hour?

I just can’t believe you can’t fill a twelve hour block of programming with all there is to gaming and technology. If anything they could have added shows about non-computer related areas of tech like what is done on Discovery Science, but to instead add a show like Cheaters? Is it so hard to keep a channel in the realm of why it was created or is it that we really don’t need a tech or gaming channel?

Perhaps we are to blame. I admit I would not watch G4 all day even if they did everything I wanted, but I would watch more than I do now. I have friends who are into design and cooking, but they don’t watch their specialty channels all day. Maybe I am missing something so I pose these questions to the Obsolete Gamer fans out there.

Did you watch Tech TV/G4 and if so what did you like about it and what didn’t you like. Now that it’s just G4 do you still watch? Would you like to see a channel that had a full days worth of tech and gaming related programs. If you were in charge how would you run G4 T.V. or your own gamer’s television. Why in the world would anyone watch Cheaters?

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