In an interesting about-face, Esquire network is now set to take over Style, rather than G4, THR reports. NBCUniversal officially announced plans to rebrand G4 as Esquire back in February, with the intention of, “shifting the former gaming network to a destination more in line with the modern male.”
The programming was intended to focus on the genres that other male-centric channels, such as Spike, have failed to provide for men; which include cooking, travel and fashion.
"In pursuit of that same demo [as Bravo, E! and Oxygen], Style presents brand overlap within our portfolio," NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group chairman Bonnie Hammer said in an internal memo which detailed the reasons for the game plan change.
Essentially, NBCUniversal feels that Style is the least distinct of their female-skewing cable networks, which include, Oxygen, Bravo and E!, and as such, the Style rebrand as the male-centric Esquire will create more space for the other three to serve their target audience and limit brand confusion. Style also offers a bigger launching ground for Esquire than G4 would have.
The rebrand is set to go into effect on September 24th. It is unclear what NBCUniversal plans to do with G4 at this time. For now, it will remain as is. We should note that it is highly unlikely that they will invest in any additional or renewed original programming for the gaming network.
We will keep you updated as details emerge.
What do you think of the strategic shift? Leave your comments below.
Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com
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