september 7 2001 2001 09 07 owned by rogers media picture format 1080i hdtv 480i sdtv country canada broadcast area national headquarters toronto ontario formerly called techtv 2001 2001 2004 2004 g4techtv 2004 2004 2009 2009 website g4 canada availability satellite bell tv channel 515 sd shaw direct channel 514 sd cable available on many canadian cable systems check local listings channels may vary iptv bell aliant channel 229 sd bell fibe tv channel 515 sd mts channel 281 sd channel 1281 hd optik tv channel 374 sd sasktel channel 56 sd vmedia channel 90 sd zazeen channel 133 sd g4 is a canadian english language category a specialty channel owned by rogers media . the name is licensed from nbcuniversal whose parent company formerly owned a minority stake in the channel . based on the u.s cable networks techtv and the now defunct g4 the channel currently broadcasts general entertainment programming despite marketing itself as a channel focused on technology . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 2009 2012 1.2 2013 present 2 programming 3 distribution 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit on november 24 2000 through a joint venture rogers media 33.34 % shaw communications 33.33 % and techtv us 33.33 % were granted approval by the canadian radio television and telecommunications commission crtc to launch a canadian version of the u.s. television channel techtv described by its nature of service as providing programming about computing technology and the internet . 2 the channel launched on september 7 2001 as the canadian version of techtv . after months of speculation on march 25 2004 comcast announced it would acquire techtv from vulcan programming inc. with plans to merge techtv with its own gaming related channel g4 . 3 as part of the purchase comcast acquired techtv s 33.33 % interest in the canadian version spinning it off into its subsidiary g4 media . the transaction was completed on may 10 and the american services were merged into g4techtv on may 28 2004 . 4 techtv canada would follow suit and be renamed g4techtv on the same date . 5 on february 15 2005 less than a year after the merger the american version was renamed back to g4 . in june of 2006 shaw communications sold its interest in the channel to the managing partner rogers media . at an unknown date comcast also sold its interest to rogers giving it full ownership . 6 as the channel s name changed from techtv to g4techtv so did the channel s programming . much like the american service g4techtv canada would acquire a mixture of the former techtv and g4 programs of which a number of those would be the younger skewing gaming related series such as arena and cinematech from the latter channel . in 2006 the crtc granted a license amendment allowing g4techtv canada to broadcast drama and comedy programs including animated series such as anime . 7 less than two months later g4techtv canada introduced anime current a programming block consisting of anime series . it was the channel s first venture into the airing of scripted series . later in 2007 g4techtv canada would begin to introduce more scripted series including code monkeys and the it crowd . 2009 2012 edit in june 2009 g4techtv was renamed g4 . however the former brand was not completely phased out from station branding until late 2010 . this marked the shift towards a more entertainment based schedule with less emphasis on technology similar to its american counterpart instead focusing primarily on gaming and other general entertainment geared towards a younger audience . much of the technology based programming was removed or scheduled during off peak hours . new programming introduced included adult digital distraction add a programming block consisting of comedy and animated series many of which were non technology based and sourced from the american cable channel adult swim . along with add the channel would later add outdoor adventure programming from other rogers owned channels mainly oln city and omni including angry planet and mantracker in the fall of that year . many notable programs from its american counterpart aired on a daily basis such as x play attack of the show and newer series such as that s tough web soup campus pd and proving ground . in the fall of 2011 all references to add was removed from the channel s website however the block remained on air . as well a vast majority of the programs included in the programming block were removed from the schedule . this move was likely due to pressure from the crtc during the channel s licence renewal in july 2011 ; referencing g4 s divestiture from its original nature of service as a channel devoted to technology the crtc stated that g4 s programming is not in compliance with its nature of service definition and that it detail measures to ensure that the service is in compliance with its nature of service . 8 several adult swim programs made a return to the schedule in 2012 including eagleheart squidbillies and ntsf sd suv ; they have since been removed from the schedule . 2013 present edit in 2013 the american version was scheduled to be rebranded as the esquire network due to low ratings . 9 however at the last minute its parent company decided to rebrand style network instead . g4 canada s social media accounts have not been updated since then . 10 11 g4 canada launched a high definition feed of its own on december 4 2014 12 while its american counterpart ceased operations at the end of 2014 thus leaving g4 canada as the only g4 branded television channel in the world . since january 2016 g4 canada has shifted away from technology themed programming to more general interest programming . 13 programming edit further information list of programs broadcast by g4 canada originally as techtv the channel consisted solely of technology and gaming related programming mainly originating from its american counterpart along with canadian series . such programming included call for help the screen savers and techlive . presently g4 shows various syndicated shows many of which have aired on other rogers owned specialty channels . distribution edit as a category 1 television service it is mandatory for all digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers in canada that have the capacity to do so to carry the channel in markets where english is the majority language . g4 under the name g4techtv was broadcast internationally in the barbados market . the government owned caribbean broadcasting corporation in barbados switched from providing the american based feed in favour of the canadian channel for its cable television network known as multi choice tv . for unknown reasons the channel has since been removed . see also edit g4 techtv references edit welcome to g4 canada retrieved 2014 20 02 decision crtc 2000 454 ; crtc ; 2000 12 14 comcast agrees to purchase techtv ; redorbit ; 2004 03 25 comcast techtv g4 g4techtv ; multichannel news ; 2004 05 10 tech tv canada gets a new name and new programming channel canada ; 2004 05 17 http www.crtc.gc.ca ownership cht27c.pdf broadcasting decision crtc 2006 532 ; crtc ; 2006 09 15 broadcasting decision crtc 2011 447 crtc 2011 07 27 g4 gets dumped in the u.s. but canada is stuck with a tv channel dedicated to tech . canada.com . 2013 02 11 . retrieved 2014 05 15 . g4tv canada official facebook page accessed december 26 2014 g4tv canada g4tvcanada twitter accessed december 26 2014 changes to mts tv on december 4 2014 accessed march 6 2015 canadian video game tv show electric playground is currently on hiatus accessed april 13 2016 external links edit official website v t e rogers communications corporate directors 1 bonnie brooks david peterson edward rogers iii charles sirois fixed line telecommunications rogers cable rogers hi speed internet rogers telecom mobile telecommunications chatr glentel fido solutions mobilicity rogers wireless magazines canadian business chatelaine english ch telaine french flare glow l actualit lou lou maclean s marketing the medical post moneysense profit sportsnet magazine today s parent television conventional television city stations city dt chmi dt cjnt dt ckal dt ckem dt ckvu dt omni television stations cfmt dt chnm dt cjco dt cjeo dt cjmt dt other hockey night in canada5 cable television city city saskatchewan sportsnet sportsnet 360 sportsnet regional channels east ontario west pacific sportsnet one sportsnet ppv wwe network sportsnet world mlse leafs tv nba tv canada other channels cable 141 cpac fx fxx g4 oln rogers tv1 tv rogers french 1 the shopping channel viceland radio stations am cfac cffr cftr cirs ciww cjcl ckat ckgl ckwx fm cfgp fm cflt fm cfrv fm chas fm chbn fm chst fm chdi fm chez fm chfi fm chfm fm chmn fm chtt fm chur fm chym fm cikr fm cikz fm cioc fm cisq fm ciss fm citi fm cjaq fm cjax fm cjet fm cjmx fm cjni fm cjok fm cjqm fm cjqq fm cjrq fm cjrx fm ckby fm cker fm ckfx fm ckgb fm ckis fm ckiz fm ckks fm ckmh fm ckqc fm cksr fm ckxc fm cky fm ckyx fm wlyk2 radio networks jack fm most canadian stations sportsnet radio other assets hockey night in canada3 maple leaf sports & entertainment 37.5 % rogers bank rogers media rogers plus spring fishing show toronto blue jays shomi vuguru facilities owned 33 dundas street east 545 lake shore boulevard west rogers building rogers centre rogers park sponsored rogers arena rogers k rock centre rogers place under construction leased canadian broadcasting centre4 acquisitions and historic brands direct acquisitions aurora cable internet cable atlantic maclean hunter selkirk communications newton cable score media sprint canada systems resold by shaw classicomm fundy cable graham cable mountain cablevision trillium cable defunct channels citynews channel viewers choice msnbc canada goltv the biography channel some assets listed above are only partially owned by rogers communications . refer to each individual article for detailed information . 1community channels owned or part owned by rogers cable 2u . s. border station operated by rogers under a local marketing agreement 3brand used under license from the cbc . 4studio 41 and its eighth floor offices are leased from the cbc for its nhl coverage . 5part time network broadcast over the same stations as cbc television ; see crtc decision 2015 154 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title g4 canadian tv channel & oldid 730599200 categories g4 television techtvrogers communicationscanadian digital cable television networksenglish language television stations in canadatelevision channels and stations established in 20012001 establishments in canada navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 20 july 2016 at 02 08 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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