When Attack of the Show and X-Play reach their conclusions at the end of the year, it will signal the beginning of a more widespread change to the network it airs on. Currently G4TV, the channel will be rebranded as the Esquire Channel in the first half of 2013.
Along with the rebranding will be a move to make the channel less about gaming and technology, and more for the metrosexual man, including cooking, travel, and fashion shows. Gaming shows will stick around, though in what volume is unclear at this point.
According to the Hollywood Reporter who first broke the story, the channel will be aiming at the target ignored by Spike and History. Spike focuses on the very manly-man (for lack of a better term) audience, while History tends to go after an older cross-section of the male population.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what will become of current shows on the network, although it’s fair to say that they’ll be sticking around through the transition, at least. We’re actually truly concerned that shows like Reviews on the Run and Electric Playground will not return even though they offer some of the best reviews and gaming news on the planet, in any medium. Here’s hoping those incredible shows will stay alive.
Esquire will likely remain a premium channel, although it is possible that it will become a part of regular cable programming given that it is going to be appealing to a wider audience through its transition.
There are a few exciting possibilities for the channel that would come from being linked with Hearst Corporation’s (they publish Esquire) famous magazine. Could we see shows like The Sexiest Women Alive in 2013? That all remains to be seen, but a tie in with the magazine (and vice-versa) is certainly not out of the question.
We’ve still got another few weeks before Attack of the Show and X-Play officially wrap on filming and production, and another few months after that before we get concrete details on the change from G4TV to the Esquire Channel. We’ll make sure to bring you all the news on it as it happens.