Video Game Channel Takes Off

For years, video game players have hunched in front of flickering television sets, blasting asteroids, piloting starships and stealing cars.

Now the TV has something else to show them: a fast-growing, 24-hour cable channel brimming with video game news, reviews and profiles of the rock stars of their world: game creators.

Known as G4, the channel relies on a series of edgy, low-budget shows that mix a flip attitude with glimpses of state-of-the-art game graphics.

G4 is the first channel launched from scratch by cable giant Comcast Corp., which believes it fills a hot niche and can deliver profits within five years. It targets males between ages 12 and 34 - a demographic coveted by advertisers of cars, clothes and, of course, video games.

After a year on the air, the channel is available to 11 million people on cable systems around the country - far exceeding its first-year goal of 6 million.

While it has attracted some national advertising accounts, including Honda and Butterfinger in addition to video game commercials, G4's challenge will be to build its cable presence to 30 million homes - the minimum level needed to hook many major advertisers.

Philadelphia-based Comcast has budgeted $150 million over five years to get G4 to profitability.

Executives at the nation's largest cable company are banking on the booming popularity of video gaming, which boasts game sales of $10 billion a year and has spawned several magazines. Several titles have migrated from the small screen to the big, inspiring such movies as "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" and "Final Fantasy."

It probably was inevitable that games would become the focus of a 24-hour cable channel.

"Gamers are the most educated media consumers out there," said Victor Lucas, the 35-year-old co-host of G4's game review show, "Judgment Day." "TV is the perfect medium to reach players and to tell them what is coming up and to create a forum as well."

With the rise of digital cable, which will make the once-prophesized 500-channel universe a reality, there's lots of room on the dial for more channels.

There were 308 cable channels at the end of 2002; 21 new choices, including the Tennis Channel and a channel devoted to high-definition programming, were added between 2001 and 2002.

For G4 to be a true success, it must develop a hit show that will convince other cable networks, and especially satellite TV systems, to carry it.

"The key for these networks usually is developing a signature program," said Larry Gerbrandt, chief content officer at Kagan World Media. "That's really what puts you on the map, and then you build from that."

Charles Hirschhorn, an ex-Disney executive who founded the network, wasn't afraid that gamers would rather handle a joystick than a remote control.

"If you're a golfer, who I'm sure likes to go outside and hit golf balls, you'll still go inside and watch the Golf Channel," Hirschhorn said. "If you're a cook, you'll still watch the food channel."

G4 offers a daily news show called "Pulse," a review segment and even a show detailing the tricks programmed into games - known as "cheats" - that let players do things like extend their virtual lives or make bobbleheads of players in a basketball video game.

The channel has an online component where viewers can chat live and post messages on a bulletin board. There's also a live show whose hosts respond to comments and questions from the Web.

Both features provide viewers with an alternative to the relative isolation of playing most games.

"Gaming is becoming mainstream, but you're not bumping into gamers wherever you go yet," said Heather Gallay, 26, of Boston, who posts messages on the G4 site using the handle "ImAGamerGirlie."

"When you watch G4, it's like entering a community on television," she said.

G4 programs rely on graphics from actual games and commentary by hosts who are mostly experienced gamers.

However, with its limited resources, G4 is not as high-tech as many of the games it features.

One show, "Cinematech," features clips of the slick mini-movies that come in high-end games as introductions or interludes between game levels. Another called "G4tv.com," one of the channel's most popular offerings, is staged on a sparse set with three hosts seated in front of computers, responding to questions and comments posed online.

Comcast hopes G4 will building interest in online gaming, which in turn could stimulate demand for high-speed cable modem service. Profits from that source could far outweigh G4's advertising revenue, said Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Janco Partners.

Gamers have indeed warmed to the channel, but some would like to see fewer reruns. And Gallay wants less emphasis on male gamers.

"I think it has a way to go," she said. "But I'm glad it's there."

By Gary Gentile