Just weeks after G4’s sudden shutdown, sources interviewed by Digital Trends shed some light on one of the problems the gaming network faced during its short life. Former employees (who chose to remain anonymous) note that Comcast had set a $19 million revenue goal for the brand, a figure it was struggling to meet before it closed.
Last year, cable TV and Internet service provider Comcast decided to revive G4, a gaming-focused TV channel that rose to prominence in the early 2000s. The company put tons of equity into the channel to try to regain its old viewership, hiring tons of talent, including returning G4 favorites and modern content creators. Comcast abruptly shut down the channel and fired its employees and contractors after just a year, in October 2022.
One source Digital Trends spoke with explained that both employees and contractors were told the G4 had a revenue goal of $19 million a few months ago, during the start of the company’s fiscal year. They noted that there was doubt among staff at the time that the channel could approach that number. “We were very clearly not even touching that target a bit,” the source said.
A week before the shutdown, staff were told that everything scheduled to air the following week was being pushed back to a later date. “We weren’t really given a reason, but we were told shows like The attack of the show and Xplay were no longer filming on the dates they were scheduled to,” a source tells Digital Trends.
“It took me years to get into this industry,” they explained, “and it sucks that people just had to decide overnight that 150 people just don’t have jobs anymore.”
Sources also described what they called a “silver lining” to the situation. Some of the laid-off workers received two months’ pay after the layoff, ending in December. Another source said the former full-time G4 employees received benefits every two weeks for 16 weeks ending in early January. Other employees received a letter from Comcast Spectacor Gaming stating that due to such a sudden network outage, they are entitled to an additional 60 days of pay under California’s WARN Act.
Digital Trends reached out to Comcast to confirm the revenue target. We’ll update this article when he responds.
Editors’ recommendations
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/g4-income-goal/
