For an industry reliant on TVs, there are precious few television shows that focus exclusively on game content. That things being said, Geoff Keighley and the show Game Head (now GameTrailers TV) have come to the forefront of mainstream attention. Keighley's success in working on Spike TV's various game properties has landed him a promotion of executive in charge of video game publisher relations for Spike TV.

"It's been a slow growth. It's been nice to see everything evolve and take on a whole new life," described Keighley to GameDaily BIZ. "I started working with Spike on Game Head in 2005, which was a weekly show where we profiled all the biggest games and eventually turned into GameTrailers TV. All along the way, we've been working on the Video Gaming Awards and doing small elements in GameTrailers. Overall, I think Spike has an amazing story to tell gamers."

"Here's why Geoff is so great: there really are few people as knowledgeable about games as Geoff is," commented Niels Schuurmans, Senior Vice President of brand creative and marketing for Spike TV. "When Casey started VGAs, she wanted to add something year round to compliment it, so we developed Game Head. The thought at the time was, 'Who is knowledgeable in the area?' so we grabbed Geoff to run the show. He was perfect, because he speaks from knowledge as opposed to speaking from a script and he elevated our knowledge of the industry. We decided that we can do even more with him, so we decided to deepen our relationship with him so he can help us become even smarter about games."

"The VGAs started the year the Spike came on television. Games were really becoming an emerging art form at the time and we wanted to stake a claim in that field year round, so we hired Geoff. What's impressive about Geoff is that he was a gaming journalist at 14, long before it became fashionable to do so. When he interviews, he asks as a gamer and journalist, so he's a great advocate for games on our network," said Casey Patterson, senior vice president of event production and talent development at Spike TV. "[Me and Niels are] TV people, but he approaches things as a as a gamer first and foremost so he keeps Spike honest about how we approach things. We're struggled building these franchises from scratch; nobody had been doing something like the VGAs when we go started. There was a great deal of focus on Hollywood elements at first, and he told us, 'That's great, but the focus should really be on the games.' He just wants stuff that gamers naturally want."

"This executive promotion allows me to be more strategic in what I do," added Keighley. "What we want to do here is that we have this cohesive unit and a 365 day coverage and now I have all the resources of MTV to promote these games in the biggest way possible. That's what excites me, and I give a lot of credit to Spike and their commitment on video games."

So with all of this behind-the-scenes work touching base with publishers and setting up events for Spike, we asked him if he would be continuing his duties as host of GameTrailers TV. "Absolutely!" assured Keighley. "It's an additive role. It's the exact same thing I've been doing, except this is more of a strategic position. I'm more at an executive level beyond the just what I had with the TV show, so this will give me more tools in my tool box to work with. A lot of it is very natural evolution, basically formalizing what was already happening. I'm excited with this opportunity; I always wondered if this is something [Spike would] do for six days a week, but that's more evidence to me is that they've become more focused on the show and they've made the commitment to gaming content. Now they want to extend this business, and I think we'll have better content for it."

So what form is that content going to take going forward? Expect to see a half dozen game specific events per year, including one for Rock Band 2 on Spike TV, along with a 'week in games' roundup at the end of every week. The VGAs will also be more "gamer oriented and less Hollywood" with several exclusive title premieres.

"I say this to gamers reading this: please support this content and let us know what you want to see! We want to be the network for game related content and we can't do it without you guys!" concluded Keighley.