Comcast-owned network G4 is no longer being carried by DirecTV.
In a statement on its Web site, G4 says it "has done everything in our power" to make a deal to keep the network on DirecTV. "This is especially frustrating since our offer to them was the same basic deal that we've had with DirecTV for the past three years."
A spokesman for DirecTV said it is no longer negotiating and has no plans to return G4 to its subscribers at this time. "We are constantly evaluating our lineup in a new world where programming costs continue to rise at significant rates. Since G4 is among the lowest rated networks based on the latest Nielsen data, we decided that it made sense to focus on preserving programming that is more relevant to our larger customer base," the spokesman said.
Frequently, there are other issues at work when these types of carriage issues go public, but DirecTV says it has no other issue with Comcast, which has several other entertainment channels, regional sports channels and is trying to complete a deal to buy control of NBC Universal.
"This is really about the viability of an individual channel," DirecTV's spokesman said.
In the third quarter, G4's total viewership was up 29%, but it was still ranked only 60th of the 77 cable networks measured by Nielsen. Among 18-to -34-year-olds, G4 ranked 47th.
