On New Year's Eve 2014 the G4 TV channel shut off, disappearing from television for nearly seven years due to shrinking viewership. The new G4 launched on November 16, 2021, with a marathon of Ninja Warrior. In the months since, G4 has rapidly rolled out new programming, as well as bringing back some of its popular old content like Xplay and Attack the Show! Its efforts have been rewarded, too, with an expanded audience. In its latest example, G4 has announced a new partnership with YouTube TV.YouTube TV is YouTube's own streaming television subscription service, one of the top options for cord-cutters looking to get away from cable TV. At least three million subscribers are signed on for YouTube TV, which carries over 85 different television networks. G4 is now one of them, with the channel available for all YouTube TV subscribers starting today. G4 VP of content distribution and partnerships Umar Hussain offered the following prepared statement, saying that, "fans have been asking, and we're thrilled to join YouTube TV." Hussain explains the YouTube TV will be an entry point for G4's "highly-engaged audience." The idea being that G4 is targeting video game players and tech-minded younger audiences, which will fit well with YouTube TV's streaming audience in a way that standard cable television providers may not mesh as well with.
According to G4's numbers, the addition of YouTube TV will bring the channel's potential audience up to over 125 million individuals. YouTube TV will join a growing list of G4 partners that includes Cox, Xfinity TV, Verizon Fios, and Philo. G4 is also collaborating with Twitch for a unique and exciting partnership featuring programming on the G4 Twitch channel. G4 also teases that more distribution partners are planned to be announced soon. G4's audience is going to continue to grow through 2022.
The new era of G4 is an interesting thing to watch. In many ways, G4 is trying to reclaim the nostalgia that many fans had for the original channel. It's brought back hosts including Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler, but has also brought in new talent like Austin Creed, Froskurinn, Ovilee, and Goldenboy, too. There's also new programming like Scott Wozniak's Scott the Woz.
Overall, it's a curiosity whether the new G4 could suffer the same fate as the original G4, whether the nostalgic programming is enough to carry a new audience that's able to get its gaming news from YouTube and Twitch instead of TV. At the very least, the support of YouTube TV should help G4 work toward its goals.