TechTV
I was with TechTV since the days of ZDTV. Audiofile, Call for Help, Fresh Gear, The Screen Savers, TechLive, Extended Play were among my favorite shows. Kevin Rose, Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Jessica Corbin, Martin Sargent, Brett Larson, Sumi Das, Kate Botello-- all the nerds in the labs, and everyone else had phenomenal chemistry on the network and produced quality content. Us geeks loved it.
Then what happened? Comcast decided it's own G4TV, whose main focus was content for gamers, didn't need TechTV's competition and wanted to lower its market value dropped it from their lineup. Shortly after, in March of 2004, LA based G4 Media acquired San Francisco based TechTV and merged it with G4. While at first the new "G4TechTV" sounded interesting, I soon discovered it wasn't. Leo Laporte, TechTV's unofficial main man with an extremely loyal following was taken off the network as the result of a contract dispute. By July, the brand new TechTV San Francisco studio was shut down, staff was forced to leave or relocate to LA, and some 250 employees were fired. In 2005, the majority of the TechTV shows had either been dropped or re-branded, and the network itself became exclusively known as G4.
G4 sucks. Its got that edgy, impersonal and out of style 1980s Los Angeles feel on nearly every program. TechTV was so classy. The TechLive set rivaled even the major network's news studios. Tech shows took to the streets of San Fran to demonstrate new products and local flair. And every person on every show was somehow connected, like a big family. Now, only 4 of the original TechTV personalities remain.
The G4 era put the old TechTV family in limbo. Cnet and zdnet.com acquired many of the TechTV lab geeks. The major cable and network guys got some of TechLive's best. Names like Chris Leary, Becky Worley, Sumi Das, Jessica Corbin, Michaela Pereira, and Erica Hill can be found on CNN, the National Geographic Channel, NBC, CNBC and the Style Network. For the core geeks however, had nowhere to go. Blogs popped up all over the internet from favorites like Leo, Patrick and Kevin Rose, but it just wasn't the same. Then came the podcasts.
These guys had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So why not do what you do best? Develop your own content. They had the experience, afterall. And thats just what they did.
Return of The Screensavers was among the first to prove that people wanted the old TechTV back. Thanks to some legal trouble, this podcast was renamed This Week in Tech, and is still among the top downloaded podcasts in the iTunes podcast directory.
Kevin Rose and his posse started Digg.com, a revolutionary new news website which "combines social bookmarking, blogging, and syndication with a form of non-hierarchical, democratic editorial control," along with Revision3 Media. Thanks to early success of the podcasts, Revision 3 is doing very well and drawing many sponsors for their popular vidcasts such as Diggnation, The Broken and Systm-- edgy technology programs which regularly features its hosts getting drunk. Recently, professional quality programs such as inDigital [which features fuk mi from austin powers] and Infected with Martin Sargent have also signed on. Thanks to Rev3 and Digg.com, Kevin recently received a 1.3 Million dollar contract to finance digg, and has reportedly been offered 35 million for exclusive rights to the website by such companies as Yahoo.
And now the new stuff
G4? It still sucks. I bet the one of the neo-TechTV podcasts draw more daily viewers over the net that G4 does with an actual TV network. Its been almost 2 years now, Comcast, and I think I can officially say nananabooboo to you.
Although I guess i should be thanking you. I believe the orphaned TechTV family is essentially responsible for starting a media revolution. By forcing the family to create successful, independently produced and digitally distributed programs, you have proven to the world that people are willing to download their legal television content off the internet. You paved the way for the success of the iTunes Video Store, and even more importantly, the future of content distribution not ruled by the media giants.
I give it 5 years. By 2011, you won't ever have to leave your home to get a movie or pay a traditional cable company for television again. On Demand internet distribution is the future. Your TVs will connect to the internet and download innovative high definition programs from anybody with an HD camera and a good idea, and all at the click of a remote.
Kevin, Leo especially. I thank you for your passion and dedication to the future technology. I look forward to your future innovations. You guys are changing the world.
Then what happened? Comcast decided it's own G4TV, whose main focus was content for gamers, didn't need TechTV's competition and wanted to lower its market value dropped it from their lineup. Shortly after, in March of 2004, LA based G4 Media acquired San Francisco based TechTV and merged it with G4. While at first the new "G4TechTV" sounded interesting, I soon discovered it wasn't. Leo Laporte, TechTV's unofficial main man with an extremely loyal following was taken off the network as the result of a contract dispute. By July, the brand new TechTV San Francisco studio was shut down, staff was forced to leave or relocate to LA, and some 250 employees were fired. In 2005, the majority of the TechTV shows had either been dropped or re-branded, and the network itself became exclusively known as G4.
G4 sucks. Its got that edgy, impersonal and out of style 1980s Los Angeles feel on nearly every program. TechTV was so classy. The TechLive set rivaled even the major network's news studios. Tech shows took to the streets of San Fran to demonstrate new products and local flair. And every person on every show was somehow connected, like a big family. Now, only 4 of the original TechTV personalities remain.
The G4 era put the old TechTV family in limbo. Cnet and zdnet.com acquired many of the TechTV lab geeks. The major cable and network guys got some of TechLive's best. Names like Chris Leary, Becky Worley, Sumi Das, Jessica Corbin, Michaela Pereira, and Erica Hill can be found on CNN, the National Geographic Channel, NBC, CNBC and the Style Network. For the core geeks however, had nowhere to go. Blogs popped up all over the internet from favorites like Leo, Patrick and Kevin Rose, but it just wasn't the same. Then came the podcasts.
These guys had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So why not do what you do best? Develop your own content. They had the experience, afterall. And thats just what they did.
Return of The Screensavers was among the first to prove that people wanted the old TechTV back. Thanks to some legal trouble, this podcast was renamed This Week in Tech, and is still among the top downloaded podcasts in the iTunes podcast directory.
Kevin Rose and his posse started Digg.com, a revolutionary new news website which "combines social bookmarking, blogging, and syndication with a form of non-hierarchical, democratic editorial control," along with Revision3 Media. Thanks to early success of the podcasts, Revision 3 is doing very well and drawing many sponsors for their popular vidcasts such as Diggnation, The Broken and Systm-- edgy technology programs which regularly features its hosts getting drunk. Recently, professional quality programs such as inDigital [which features fuk mi from austin powers] and Infected with Martin Sargent have also signed on. Thanks to Rev3 and Digg.com, Kevin recently received a 1.3 Million dollar contract to finance digg, and has reportedly been offered 35 million for exclusive rights to the website by such companies as Yahoo.
And now the new stuff
G4? It still sucks. I bet the one of the neo-TechTV podcasts draw more daily viewers over the net that G4 does with an actual TV network. Its been almost 2 years now, Comcast, and I think I can officially say nananabooboo to you.
Although I guess i should be thanking you. I believe the orphaned TechTV family is essentially responsible for starting a media revolution. By forcing the family to create successful, independently produced and digitally distributed programs, you have proven to the world that people are willing to download their legal television content off the internet. You paved the way for the success of the iTunes Video Store, and even more importantly, the future of content distribution not ruled by the media giants.
I give it 5 years. By 2011, you won't ever have to leave your home to get a movie or pay a traditional cable company for television again. On Demand internet distribution is the future. Your TVs will connect to the internet and download innovative high definition programs from anybody with an HD camera and a good idea, and all at the click of a remote.
Kevin, Leo especially. I thank you for your passion and dedication to the future technology. I look forward to your future innovations. You guys are changing the world.