Just weeks after G4’s sudden shutdown, sources interviewed by Digital Trends have shed some light on one of the issues the gaming network faced during its short life. Former employees (who chose to remain anonymous) note that Comcast had set a $19 million income goal for the brand, a number that it struggled to meet before closing down.
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 stake 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 the channel down and laid off its employees and contractors after only a year, in October 2022.
One source that Digital Trends spoke to explained that employees and contractors alike were told that G4 had a $19 million income goal 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 come close to reaching that number. “We very clearly weren’t even touching that goal a little,” the source said.
One week prior to the shutdown, the staff was told that anything scheduled to air the following week was being pushed to a later date. “We weren’t really given a reason, but were told shows like Attack of the Show and Xplay were no longer shooting on the dates they were planned to,” a source tells Digital Trends.
“It took me years to get into this industry,” they explained, “and it sucks that people just got to decide overnight that 150 people just didn’t have jobs anymore.”
Sources also detailed what they called a “silver lining” to the situation. Some of the laid-off workers are getting two months of pay post-layoff, ending in December. Another source said that former full-time G4 employees are being paid severance in biweekly payouts for 16 weeks, ending at the beginning of January. Other employees received a letter from Comcast Spectacor Gaming that states due to such a sudden network shutdown, they are entitled to an additional 60 days of pay under the WARN Act of California.
Digital Trends reached out to Comcast to verify the income goal. We will update this article when it responds.
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