Add another network to the reality TV bandwagon. G4, a former video game cable network that's attempting to transition into a Spike TV-like male lifestyle network, has announced that it will premiere The Block, its first-ever original reality series, on Monday, January 15 at 10PM ET/PT.
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The Block, which will explore the snowboarding lifestyle, will take viewers inside a California hotel chain that bear the same name. Located in Big Bear Lake and South Lake Tahoe and founded by snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya and Las Vegas hotelier Liko Smith, The Block is the world's first hotel chain that caters exclusively to snowboarders.
Each episode will feature footage of snowboarding, but will also go behind the scenes and depict what it's like to stay at The Block and interact with professional snowboarders, bands and celebrities who call the hotel their winter home. The drunker revelry that occurs at the annual Block Party, the mayhem of ongoing Fight Club events outside the hotel and a schoolyard rail jam and parking lot bash are all part of the inside look that The Block will offer viewers. And because Montoya is also a hip-hop deejay, The Block will also feature upcoming hip-hop and R&B acts as well.
Launched by Comcast in April 2002, G4 is currently available in 60 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. In October, Comcast announced that the network would become part of its E! Networks group and be overseen by E! president Ted Harbert.
Since arriving at E! in July 2004, Harbert has dramatically expanded the network's reality programming. In addition to adding original reality shows like The Simple Life, Dr. 90210, The Girls Next Door, and House of Carters to E!'s slate, Harbert also signed American Idol host Ryan Seacrest to a $21 million to host, develop, and produce shows for the network.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio