Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Tim Lincecum making Filipino-Americans proud, the chances of Cliff Lee returning to the Rangers, or hiring Randy Moss for your kid’s birthday party, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Warning: this Coffee Talk will be longer and a bit more personal than usual. As some of you know, DirecTV has dropped G4 from its lineup. Some of you are thinking that the news has me happy, but that’s not the case at all. Even though the company treated me poorly, cost me some friends, and cost me lots of money, I still believe in what G4tv could be…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and look at DirecTV’s official word as reported by Entertainment Weekly:
At this time we are no longer negotiating and we have no plans to put G4 back up. We are constantly evaluating our lineup in a new world where programming costs continue to rise at significant rates. 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.
Personally I think it’s just silly posturing. Even though G4 gets a lot of flack — deservedly so — for being more about Cops reruns than videogames these days, the network has a loyal following. I’ve been a huge fan of G4 since it started. I’ve been one of the networks staunchest defenders — years before I worked there. In September 2003 I wrote a column to try to get people in the GameSpy forums to stop hating on G4 and to support it for what it could be. Here’s a clip:
Although G4 gives all of us a new way to enjoy our favorite hobby, my favorite thing about it is that it will bring new people into the fold. Television reaches a more general audience and I’m sure there will be some people watching G4 that are only vaguely familiar with the wacky world of gaming. They’ll start out on G4. Perhaps they’ll get so into gaming that they’ll go to GameSpy to get even more. And just maybe, in a year or two they’ll be trading jabs with all y’all in the Forums. So don’t be hatin’ on G4, it’s one of the reasons gaming is getting bigger than ever… and with any luck it just might spawn your favorite Forum poster a few years down the line.
I still believe in many of the things I wrote in that column. I suppose I wanted to use today’s Coffee Talk to make sure you knew two things. First, I still believe in G4, despite the crappy way I was treated. Secondly, if you’re a DirecTV subscriber I suggest you go full-on (phone, email, snail mail) and tell the company that you want G4 as part of your lineup.
And yes, this was all kind of difficult to write because there are so many other things that I want to say. Thanks for listening!
