Some hap-hap-happenings are going on in the world of G4-fandom, if there is such a thing. Let’s start with forum member Onoma digging up G4′s ratings report.
Out of 65 million subscribers G4…
-Averages 98,000 viewers throughout the day
-Averages 124,000 viewers during prime time
While that sounds pretty bad, it’s not the worst. Out of the 70 cable networks in this ratings report, G4 ranked #50.
The other quasi-big story, is that of G4 president Neal Tiles actually CALLING an angry forum user and explaining to them why G4 is the way it is. Neal explained, basically, the same thing he posted months ago during his original Open Source post, which is that G4′s gaming shows need to see higher ratings before they can spend more money on more of them. Neal also posted most of what they talked about on the forums. You can read through the whole post, but here’s the big details:
-Judgment Day was eliminated partly due to it’s similarities to X-Play
-One of the hosts of G4TV.com admitted that the show lasted longer than they expected, ratings were apparently very low and production was expensive
-X-Play was changed because it wasn’t getting as much growth as the rest of the network, since the switch X-Play’s ratings have gone up 20%
-In the past 3 years, G4′s ratings have doubled, while their subscriber base (homes they’re in) has only gone up 15%
There’s lots of other stuff that’s been restated from before, about how COPS/Cheaters allow funding for the likes of X-Play/AOTS and how forum posts do not have more power than ratings, but it’s a good read nonetheless.
The biggest point that Neal makes is that if gamers want more gaming TV content, then it is in their best interest to support the gaming content that is currently on G4. In my own opinion, the problem is that most gamers already have negative ideas about G4 (“The channel that killed TechTV,” “The gaming channel that shows COPS all day,” “They canceled my favorite shows,” “They ruined the Halo 3 trailer,” etc.) and trying to get everyone to shake those preconceived notions is going to be difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.
The best way to help out? Tell your friends about X-Play, AOTS and G4 Rewind. Post bulletins on your Myspaces, notes on your Facebooks and Twitter about it. Tell people what time those shows are on (9AM for Rewind, 7PM-8:30PM for AOTS & X-Play) and give them a reason to watch. Maybe X-Play showed a cool demo or maybe AOTS is giving away some schwag. You know your friends best, so have it appeal to them. Vote with your remotes, that’s the only way we’re going to make some headway.
-KnuxSonic

I dunno, I thought it was pretty funny.

-KnuxSonic

AOTS has seen a few changes over the past few weeks, most notably their own robots, which debuted today on the show. The robots are part of a set refresh and were custom made for the show by Hollywood special effect artists and feature in-chest monitors and …beer taps. The robots are fully functional and can talk and move.
The four robots will join Olivia Munn and her human counterpart Kevin Pereira bringing the robot-to-human ratio to a dangerous 5 to 1.
Sadly, the introduction of these bots means the removal of my personal favorite set piece, the monitor heads, which were a staple of AOTS for over 2 years. eBay anyone?
For pictures of the new ‘bots, click here.
-KnuxSonic

AOTS fans can now froth over full episodes of Attack of the Show which are now up on iTunes for $1.99 a piece. Not sure how many people are going to buy a season pass at that price seeing as there are 10 episodes a week, but perhaps if you were looking to own your favorite episode it’s not a bad deal.
Perhaps we could see some other shows on G4 popping up on iTunes as well?

G4/Attack of the Show will air a FIVE HOUR special the day before the launch of Halo 3, September 24th. Isn’t that more than they did for E3? Also, it looks like AOTS will be skipping the Tokyo Game Show this year, but X-Play will be there on September 25th.
Also, the G4 Forums upgrade has been pushed back to the 28th for quality control. Woo. In addition, the G4 web team tweaked the main page of g4tv.com just a little bit, so it’s more organized and is a little easier to find some of the newer features that have popped up on the site in the last few months (Freestyle 101, Fresh Ink Online, etc.). Online episodes of The Electric Playground, Happy Tree Friends (although the removal of the “Coming Soon” banner from the HTF site could indicate that project has been shelved), as well as Portal have yet to be seen but stay tuned to G4 Rewind as always for the latest.
-KnuxSonic