The newly branded Esquire Network isn't wasting any time building up its programming roster.
The Esquire Network — the new name for the G4 Network that will launch April 22 — has ordered two new reality series, one from ubiquitous television presence and budding media mogul Ryan Seacrest.
Also read: G4 to Become the Esquire Network
The Seacrest project, which bears the working title "How I Rock It," will be hosted by two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis (left). On the half-hour, six-episode series, Davis will profile "the athletes, musicians, celebrities, designers, influencers and street-style icons whose careers, lives and lifestyles are setting a stylish new standard for today’s modern man," according to Esquire. Ryan Seacrest Productions and Citizen Jones ("Lunarcy!") are producing.
The second project, "Risky Listing" (also a working title), will explore the "exclusive, intensely competitive world of New York nightlife real estate," following real-estate agents as they "cut deals for the hottest bar, restaurant and nightclub spaces — and try to stay on top in the city that never sleeps." Zodiac New York is producing the series, which is slated for six, one-hour episodes.
Both series will premiere this summer and join the previously announced Esquire original series "Knife Fight" (an "underground, after-hours cooking competition") and "The Getaway," in which well-known personalities will give viewers the inside dope on their favorite cities.
“We are building an exciting slate of original series for men with style and substance,” Esquire's head of original programming Matt Hanna said of the new offerings. “'How I Rock It' is really for all those guys who’ve admired another man’s style but were afraid to ask how they got it. We’re going to be the middleman for them with this series. And in 'Risky Listing,' we’re going to take our viewers inside the high stakes, big ego world of New York nightlife real estate to see these listings agent gladiators go toe-to-toe.”
The product of a deal between NBCUniversal and Hearst Magazines, Esquire Network plans to continue G4's focus on technology and gaming, while branching out into "entertainment, food, fashion, women, humor, travel, competition, danger and more," according to a press release issued in February.