VENN network (a new video game network premiering in August)

[wonderfly]

Approx. 12 hours until the premiere of the network. There's a live stream "countdown" video on Youtube, that'll I'll include here, if you want to watch here in this thread:

 

[Mostezli]

So, that's day 1. It was alright. Seems like the rest of the 24/7 stream will be just replaying what already premiered.

 

[RandomMe]

As far as I know it's a worldwide stream. It's working in Portugal. Don't know where is it restricted.

 

[wonderfly]

Yes, it looks like it's on a continuous re-stream of the first day's programming block (yesterday's broadcast), until the next day's block premieres (this afternoon). So yesterday it had....5 and 1/2 hours worth of premiere streaming material. It'll probably have 5 to 8 hours of material streamed each day, if I'm understanding right.


EDIT: Here's the premiere info, by the way:

 

[wonderfly]

Just a follow up:

They are apparently going to upload each episode of each show to Youtube after all. Usually about 24 hours after an episode premieres.

From Wednesday, here's the first episode of "The Download" and the first episode of "Venn Arcade Live".




Kinda strange that they're only going to do new episodes Wednesday thru Friday. That's....very strange. Are Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday gonna be just.....reruns? Maybe they should broadcast "Ninja Warrior" and "COPS" on those days?

 

[Mandouga]

Maybe they should broadcast "Ninja Warrior" and "COPS" on those days?

That wasn't funny, Wonderfly. At all. Nobody wants to see this channel become another G4, and they aren't kidding! It doesn't help that one of their shows (Looking For Gains, a fitness challenge show) has nothing to do with video games at all and Guest House (a talk show) only has video games as one part of it, with guests--whether they come from the video game industry or not--playing video games with them in order to justify it. A previous post also mentioned some kind of reality show as well. Look, long story short, we need to make it clear that we don't want history to repeat itself, and that means no general entertainment shows.

 

[Mostezli]

That wasn't funny, Wonderfly. At all. Nobody wants to see this channel become another G4, and they aren't kidding! It doesn't help that one of their shows (Looking For Gains, a fitness challenge show) has nothing to do with video games at all and Guest House (a talk show) only has video games as one part of it, with guests--whether they come from the video game industry or not--playing video games with them in order to justify it. A previous post also mentioned some kind of reality show as well. Look, long story short, we need to make it clear that we don't want history to repeat itself, and that means no general entertainment shows.

Two former G4 guys did say a lot of the people who worked on the tail end of G4's run went to VENN. They also spoke on length about what made G4 stand out were the sketch comedy bits, which the younger dude on this podcast
knew next to nothing about, so...general entertainment IS the way to go, but you want it to be targeted/themed properly and executed by charismatic entertainers/informants. Aside from Looking for Gains and the Guest House, the awkwardly enthusiastic hosts on the other shows operate as if they ran an E3 conference or two.

 

[wonderfly]

That wasn't funny, Wonderfly. At all. Nobody wants to see this channel become another G4, and they aren't kidding! It doesn't help that one of their shows (Looking For Gains, a fitness challenge show) has nothing to do with video games at all and Guest House (a talk show) only has video games as one part of it, with guests--whether they come from the video game industry or not--playing video games with them in order to justify it. A previous post also mentioned some kind of reality show as well. Look, long story short, we need to make it clear that we don't want history to repeat itself, and that means no general entertainment shows.

I just read an article saying they plan on ramping up more content in 2021. That article says right now they produce around 20 hours of content each week - that reflects the Wednesday through Saturday schedule - but they're looking to get up to 55 hours of content per week next year.

But they do say that they're a channel to discuss "culture and music" as well as gaming. In the opening episode of "The Download", they discussed the live-action Mulan coming to Disney Plus, and there was one segment that dealt with a new Hellboy tabletop game. In "Venn Arcade Live", they spent a portion of time discuss the guest's music.

They're also are really wanting to push the "live streaming interaction with the audience" aspect of the show, and that they are a digital/internet channel.


EDIT: I can't shake the fact that all of the people on these shows look like they're in the mid to late 20's. And it got me to thinking, about age and demographics, and so I did some double checking:

All of the hosts of G4 (from the "classic" G4 era of 2005 to 2009) are now in their 40's.
Adam Sessler is now 46 years old
Morgan Webb is now 41 years old
Olivia Munn is now 40 years old

All of the "classic" Youtube channel stars from Youtube's "Golden Age" (2007 to 2013) are now in their late 30's:

Jim Sterling is 36 years old
"Angry Joe" is 36 years old
"The Angry Video Game Nerd" is now 40 years old
And I know it's not gaming, but "The Nostalgia Critic" is 38 years old.

Even the current biggest Youtube stars (of the last 5 to 7 years) are now all in their early 30's:
Pewdiepie is 30
Markiplier is 31
Matpat (aka "Game Theory") is 33
TheRadBrad is 33

And now here it is 2020, and everyone on this VENN network look like they're fresh out of college....funny how that works....

 

[Mandouga]

general entertainment IS the way to go, but you want it to be targeted/themed properly and executed by charismatic entertainers/informants.

It doesn't matter how you look at it. Network decay is network decay, no matter how it's justified. For this reason, along with others, most people hope VENN won't make the same mistakes.

 

[Mostezli]

It doesn't matter how you look at it. Network decay is network decay, no matter how it's justified. For this reason, along with others, most people hope VENN won't make the same mistakes.

The difference is where that network is situated, which for now is at the major social media venues.
Their reruns is just of their shows, which they don't upload the premiere episodes of until the next day.

I just read an article saying they plan on ramping up more content in 2021. That article says right now they produce around 20 hours of content each week - that reflects the Wednesday through Saturday schedule - but they're looking to get up to 55 hours of content per week next year.

But they do say that they're a channel to discuss "culture and music" as well as gaming. In the opening episode of "The Download", they discussed the live-action Mulan coming to Disney Plus, and there was one segment that dealt with a new Hellboy tabletop game. In "Venn Arcade Live", they spent a portion of time discuss the guest's music.

They're also are really wanting to push the "live streaming interaction with the audience" aspect of the show, and that they are a digital/internet channel.


EDIT: I can't shake the fact that all of the people on these shows look like they're in the mid to late 20's. And it got me to thinking, about age and demographics, and so I did some double checking:

All of the hosts of G4 (from the "classic" G4 era of 2005 to 2009) are now in their 40's.
Adam Sessler is now 46 years old
Morgan Webb is now 41 years old
Olivia Munn is now 40 years old

All of the "classic" Youtube channel stars from Youtube's "Golden Age" (2007 to 2013) are now in their late 30's:

Jim Sterling is 36 years old
"Angry Joe" is 36 years old
"The Angry Video Game Nerd" is now 40 years old
And I know it's not gaming, but "The Nostalgia Critic" is 38 years old.

Even the current biggest Youtube stars (of the last 5 to 7 years) are now all in their early 30's:
Pewdiepie is 30
Markiplier is 31
Matpat (aka "Game Theory") is 33
TheRadBrad is 33

And now here it is 2020, and everyone on this VENN network look like they're fresh out of college....funny how that works....

The current gen big Youtubers migrated from elsewhere where they already had sizable followings, Mr. Beast being possibly the sole exception.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Variety did an interview with the founders recently.

VENN Founders Are Playing to Win With Gaming Lifestyle Streaming Channel (Listen)

VENN founders Ariel Horn and Ben Kusin speak to Variety's "Strictly Business" podcast about the launch of the gaming lifestyle network.

variety.com

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Venn has partnered with Nexstar and Blast.

Nexstar Inc. Partners with VENN.TV to Introduce New Content Hub

New President, Digital Focuses on Gaming to Attract Younger Audiences...

www.globenewswire.com

BLAST Forms Partnership With VENN for Esports Expansion

Esports tournament organizers BLAST is forming a partnership with VENN to help spread esports to a global audience.

www.esportstalk.com

 

[wonderfly]

I can't tell if this "Venn Network" is dead or if it's just gone into hybernation. Their main Youtube channel hasn't uploaded things in months. EDIT: Well, I guess their Esports channel has been doing uploads (though it's been a couple weeks since the last one). I'm not sure where this is even broadcasting.

I'm unsticking this from the top of the forum. If it gets back a more national presence, we can sticky it again, possibly.

 

[Mostezli]

I'm not sure where this is even broadcasting.

WHERE TO WATCH

WHERE TO WATCH YOUTUBE SAMSUNG TV PLUS : 1352 THE ROKU CHANNEL : 590 XUMO : 304 VIZIO LG CHANNELS : 304 PLEX LOCAL NOW DISTRO TV : 36 STIRR : 394 TWITCH

venn.tv

They don't appear to be "live", but those streaming platforms are airing content. I checked between two different platforms (Xumo & Local Now) and I saw two different shows happening at the same time.

Maybe they're waiting on G4TV to get out of its pre-launch phase.

 

[wonderfly]

I have no idea what Xumo is. If you want to be taken seriously in the sphere of video games, don't you need a better presence on Youtube or Twitch?? Twitch says "Last streamed 4 months ago". Why can't they upload full episodes to Youtube like they were doing a year ago?

EDIT: Okay, I clicked on your link and.....it's on the Roku channel, which I have. And that's broadcasting right now. Well, that's helpful.

 

[Mostezli]

Why can't they upload full episodes like they were doing a year ago?

VENN hires accounting firm for 'accelerated' acquisition process amid pivoting business, financial struggles

Once hoping to be the "MTV for the Gaming Generation," the broadcaster hasn't found the successes it aimed for.

dotesports.com

Surprised that wasn't posted here.

 

[wonderfly]

VENN hires accounting firm for 'accelerated' acquisition process amid pivoting business, financial struggles

Once hoping to be the "MTV for the Gaming Generation," the broadcaster hasn't found the successes it aimed for.

dotesports.com

Surprised that wasn't posted here.

So there you go, that was posted in late July. They're looking to sell and start over, it sounds like. Quote from that article:

"VENN pivoted several times in its first year, going from broadcasting 55 hours of live programming in one week to focusing on short-form video-on-demand content on YouTube and other mediums and, lastly, a creative agency using its existing talent contracts to produce white-label content for some and acquire existing content too. Along the way, it made several rounds of layoffs, slimming down its workforce significantly."

They tried to go big and have an expensive Los Angeles studio set, whereas G4 is acting like goof balls living out of an apartment with live streams on Youtube.

 

[Mostezli]

They tried to go big and have an expensive Los Angeles studio set, whereas G4 is acting like goof balls living out of an apartment with live streams on Youtube.

ironic since the VENN shows I enjoyed involved the twitch streamers
curious to know what G4's actual network will be