Esquire Network Programming Debuts in September

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The rebranding of the G4 cable network by the Esquire Network begins September 23 with a self-congratulatory two-hour tribute to the 80-year-old Esquire Magazine's history, according to the mediabistro.com FishbowlNY Web site.

The Esquire Network's male target audience is bracing for content designed, according to EN, to satisfy the "full, multi-faceted lives of today's modern men." FishbowlNY reports programming will include Brew Dogs, Horse Players, Risky Listing and How I Rock It. The latter program presumably will air later in the evening because it has more than a two-word title.

Brew Dogs stars two Scottish beermeisters who travel the U.S. sampling primo craft beers that probably have fuller heads than the audience watching Brew Dogs. Horse Players is a behind-the-scenes look at horse race handicapping that Esquire Network probably pitched to advertisers by promising them it would attract stable viewers.

For viewers who love danger and intrigue, Risky Listing explores the "competitive world of New York nightlife real estate" and is rated H for "Huh"? Lastly, How I Rock It is a lifestyle show hosted by 34-year-old former New York Knick Baron Davis and his torn ACL. Davis shares a birthday with the NBA-lovin' editorial head of "TUOL," so clearly, his show is the most promising of the lot.

The Hearst-owned Esquire Magazine that the staff of "TUOL" devoured in its youth featured writers such as Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer and Gay Talese. The glimpse of Esquire Network content provided by FishbowlNY reveals one common trait among "today's modern men"--apparently, they're morons.

Finding Their Voice: Editors Quit NY Weekly Rather Than Fire Staffers

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After a six-month tenure as Editor-in-Chief, Will Bourne has resigned from the Village Voice, joined by Deputy Editor Jessica Lustig, Web site www.mediabistro.com Fishbowl NY reported yesterday.

According to Fishbowl, Bourne and Lustig quit, rather than carry out Executive Editor's Christine Brennan's directive to terminate five of the alternative weekly's 20-member editorial staff.  The once-revered weekly has been weakened by sagging ad revenues and circulation that has plagued the newspaper industry overall. In recent years, the Voice lost many of its most prominent writers, including film critic J. Hoberman, Nat Hentoff and Tom Robbins (see "TUOL" post 1/5/12).