Esquire Network sets launch date

Esquire Network (EN), the new US cable channel that’s due to replace G4, will go live on September 23, timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the men’s magazine brand.

The launch date is even later than the summer debut parent Hearst Magazines and EN joint venture partner NBCUniversal had hoped for, after pushing back the original April 22.

The network will go live in primetime with a two-hour special commemorating Esquire magazine’s eight decades, which comes with the publication of the October issue.

General manager Adam Stotsky said in April that the delay to the launch was being caused by a glut of original programming, as EN unveiled a slate of 12 homegrown shows.

The fledgling net has now added a further two: Brew Dogs (working title, 6×60’), produced by Custom Productions and Redtail Media, sees Scottish “beer evangelists” James Watt and Martin Dickie travel across America creating their own locally-inspired drafts; Horse Players (7×60’), from Go Go Luckey, follows the high-stakes world of professional horse race handicapping.