April 25^th, 2002 (12:00am) - A new cable television channel devoted entirely to videogames lauched yesterday, April 24th. The station hopes the gameing public will take to this kind of entertainment, especially since this is the first time it’s been done. Television shows like "Extended Play" (previously GameSpot) and "Electric Playground" have been around for awhile, but never has an entire network been devoted to this form of entertainment. Never have gamers had this type of access to in depth reviews and news that can only be delivered through television. The new channel, G4, has $150 million in funding from Comcast and starts out with an audience of 3 million subscribers on digital cable platforms from Comcast and Midwestern operator Insight.

The channel will eventually offer 13 original weekly series. Shows will cover different genres, will feature gaming reviews, and hints and tricks. It is expected to have 350 to 400 hours of original content per year. Sounds great to me! :)

Although most of the executives at G4 have film and television backgrounds, two executives have roots in the game media:

Scot Rubin is the "Vice President of Internet and Program Editorial" and is known for launching the "All Games Network in 1995." And Tom Russo, who is Director of Program Development, was formerly the editor-in-chief of Next Generation magazine.

Hopefully their expertise, combined with that of the many people working hard to make this happen, will result in an entertaining and informative new way for gamers to immerse themselves even further into their favorite pasttime.