G4 Gets into Awards Act
By Simon Applebaum -- Multichannel News, 3/2/2003 7:02:00 PM
G4 wants gamers and viewers to feel the "Glow."
The video-game and lifestyle channel, which marks its first anniversary in April, will stage "G-Phoria" July 30 in Los Angeles.
The nightlong event, two hours of which will run live on the network, will celebrate the video-game scene through music performances, celebrity appearances and statues for game achievements.
Network viewers will help determine "Glow Awards" winners through on-air and Web site balloting.
"This is the next piece of our puzzle," G4 CEO Charles Hirschhorn said. "You need a signature programming event to help drive a network's distribution."
What G4 wants is a defining franchise with enduring buzz, just like what MTV: Music Television accomplished with its Video Music Awards.
G4 already faces an event rival in Viacom Inc.'s The New TNN, which reaches about 86 million cable and direct-broadcast satellite homes, compared with Comcast Corp.-controlled G4's universe of about 10 million cable households.
TNN will hold its own first-ever game-awards show this fall.
EB Games, one of G4's principal launch advertisers, will be a presenting sponsor of the event, the venue for which has yet to be tabbed.
The video-game chain's 800 outlets are expected to promote the event, and one of the 24 Glow categories -- the best game chosen solely by viewers -- will bear the retailer's name.
The Glow nominations -- five in each category, selected by a panel of video-game and entertainment trade journalists, game developers and consumer press writers -- will be unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May.
Pre-event programming on G4 will start that month with a roundtable hour special, followed by five half-hour shows during June and July. G-Phoria development also will be covered regularly on segments of Pulse and G4TV.com.
A highlights special is planned for August.
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