G4 signs three-year exclusive deal for E3 TV rights

by Alexander Sliwinski on Nov 29th 2010 5:30PM

Television network G4 announced today that it has signed a three-year deal to be the official broadcaster of E3. The partnership between the network and the mega-convention's organizer, the ESA, extends a relationship the two have renewed annually for the past several years, relieving G4 of having to ask the awkward "wanna go steady (again)" question for a time.

The Comcast-owned network's multi-year agreement gives G4 access to "uninterrupted press conference coverage" and all the other flare you'd expect from the moving-picture medium. All you DirecTV subscribers, of course, will have to head over to a friend's house to watch the coverage, since the satellite TV company recently dropped the network -- or you could just join on us these little ol' internets for our own extensive E3 coverage with written words.

Tags: e3, e3-2011, exclusivity, g4, television, tv

Reader Comments (50)

Just as the cable companies drop you! smart move!

@a falling stone
Except no cable company has dropped G4. DirecTV is a SATELLITE company; learn the difference.

@metamorphic

Get your head out of your butt please.

@a falling stone

Agree. If they had announced this like a month ahead of time, i wouldn't have lost my ability to watch it on TV (though i've mostly lost that ability anyway. This summer i'm in Japan, summer after that i had better be on my own with a job and not affording DirecTV)

all I care about at E3 are the big 3's press conferences. as long as I can stream them live on the intertubes I am good. Now, back to watching NFL sunday ticket. (on sunday)

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

@dingdingler They need to stop with this random videogame coverage nonsense, they're interruptin' mah Cheaters!

Are you sure G4 will even still be around in 3 years?

@Gibbeynator - Assuming that Comcast will still be around in three years (they will be), I'd assume so. Comcast has so much money, that whatever meager profits (and or deficits) G4 accumulates are a drop in the bucket.

(Comcast owns G4. I've just realized that I should mention this, or what I said doesn't make any sense to those that didn't already know)

I'll stick to the internet for E3 coverage, methinks.

And didn't they only carry the Microsoft press conference this year? I can't remember.

@(Unverified)

No, they have consistently broadcast all three major conferences since the began covering them.

@Funkmaster General

Hmm. I am mistaken then. Apologies!

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Spike TV was the one that only broadcasted the MS press conference, because I think they had exclusive deals this year. G4 usually does all of the press conferences, but ended up only doing Nintendo and Sony becuase of the deal with Spike.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze I can have my TV on at the same time as my Computer. It's pretty cool

Well that's good. I'll usually buy some bruskies and have friends come over to watch it. This is always about the only time I watched G4. If they didn't get this it'd definitely be a huge blow to them.

Suits me fine, as I always end up watching E3 on G4 anyway.

Man, I can't even remember the last time I watched G4. And considering how many site do a live blog during E3 I don't think I'll be missing much.

@Stubs24 Not only do sites live blog, they also broadcast the conferences themselves. So you get the best of both worlds and can still avoid G4 ... as well you should.

YES.

My tradition for E3 now is to watch the live broadcast and comment on the live-blog here on the 'Stiq with my iPod touch, writing whatever comes to mind as I watch it on the comfort of my couch. That's what I did this year, and I'll do it again this year. It's the perfect E3 experience.

@Shadowbender

*next year*.

@Shadowbender

That's what I do as well.

I don't even have G4, guess I'll be watching it on teh internetz again, which I didn't really mind anyway.

Ah great, I was happy last year when Spike got the Microsoft conference so I could actually watch it in HD (on DirecTV). Now I won't be able to see it on TV at all.

People still watch G4? E3 is like the only game related thing they ever shown, back when I had G4.

I feel bad for Adam being stuck with that company. Morgan Webb is alright but It's hard for me to tell if she really does play games or faking it really good.

Eh whatever. Good luck to them with coverage.

I'll stick to Joystiq recaps. Most of the E3 presentations are really boring with PR speak that means nothing to me. Just give me the Cliff Notes of the new games and hardware.

goddammit G4 just goddammit and this is coming from a former employee.

The only time I watch G4 anymore is for E3 so this is good to hear.

Just die already!!

This is good new. I like G4 I watch E3 with them every year. This year felt weird since it was GTTV doing it for MS. I always like their commentary & I watch The Feed webcast every week on their site. Their TV network may be on the decline but their website is still decent.

E3 coverage is something G4 gets right, so I'm glad to hear this.

On a side note, I was visiting my grandma a couple weeks ago and while surfing through her local channels, stumbled upon a new yet syndicated episode of Electric Playground. I didn't even know they still aired EP anywhere in the U.S. Now why G4 can't even show those is beyond me, but it'd be nice, and a step in the right direction.

@DCGX

E3 coverage is "the only thing" G4 gets right. Fixed.

This seems like a weird deal for a dying network. I wonder who paid who and how much. I assume it's G4's last move to be relevant to the audience it claims it is marketing to.

now can you upgrade to HD on FiOs?

"Sweet we locked up E3 for 3 years"
... now only if they can find game related content for the other 362 days in the year

Cheers to them I usually just watch AOTS occasionally, cops and and that new show with Kevin Parera in a mustache.

Or I could, you know, watch a stream from ANY GAMING WEBSITE EVER.

@Fuzunga Yea those are always consistent and reliable....

I'm sorry Joystiq, but any E3 coverage is better than the coverage that G4 provides. They really should either learn how to run a live show correctly, which is odd because AOTS is pretty good. There were so many errors in this years coverage, that I pretty much gave up on watching it.

In case you haven't figured it out, I really hate what G4 has become (a rip off of Spike TV) and I wish that it would go off the air for good.

Wait a minute. Since when has G4 covered gaming news?

Heres hoping that we will be able to watch E3 coverage without being interrupted by cop and cheater re-runs.... Dear G4 - u suck' .

With any luck the network will finally die within three years. I enjoyed watching the live press conference broadcasts this year, but G4's commentators and interludes were nothing short of nauseating.

What's that? I heard one of our employees looooves obscure japanese television shows. Lets re-air some of those stock 90's japanese shows.

@HybridPara E3 in a video game expo. It has nothing to do with Japan. it takes place in the US

My Dish package don't have G4 so I guess I'll stick to Gametrailers for next years E3

I have G4 and I'll still be watching E3 on livestream just to avoid the godawful commentary. The only decent game channel was on the fragile Voom networks that Dish Network decided to execute.

G4's writers are lame. Show's crew has over blown egos.
G4 will pull massive commercial opportunities next 4 yrs. I for one will continue to dismiss this company.

And the world continues to rotate on it's tilted axis.

Let's be honest, are any other networks likely to cover E3?

G4 signs three-year exclusive deal for E3 TV rights

Reader Comments (50)

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:37PM a falling stone said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:57PM metamorphic said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:03PM BenX02 said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 12:52PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:37PM FNG said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:37PM dingdingler said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 8:09PM onan said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:41PM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:28PM BananaBoat said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:41PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:46PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:53PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:53PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 4:56AM DarknessBear said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 4:58AM DarknessBear said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:42PM Marco le Polo said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:41PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:41PM Stubs24 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:45PM Epoque said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:46PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:48PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:48PM Funkmaster General said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:46PM Tapejara said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:49PM Nastt said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:53PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:54PM Special Agent Bob said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 5:57PM Zacxx201 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:08PM Manifest37 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:09PM Prboi said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:14PM DCGX said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:22PM The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:20PM Lerkero said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:28PM Miningguyx370 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:28PM tchuks said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:29PM ChiTownRuler23 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 6:41PM Fuzunga said

Posted: Nov 30th 2010 4:58AM DarknessBear said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:01PM MGarvey said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:05PM Hookah said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:29PM styleznma said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:37PM gatotsu911 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:38PM HybridPara said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 8:59PM Narutogameking said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 7:43PM gatotsu911 said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 8:54PM Narutogameking said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 10:24PM Elmoogle said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 11:06PM tororosso said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 11:14PM Ruthless Gravity said

Posted: Nov 29th 2010 11:25PM Don Cheeto said

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