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Comcast Signs Deal To Acquire TechTV
FPCat writes "Comcast has purchased TechTV. They plan to merge the station with G4. Maybe they'll stop showing Robot Wars and put some decent shows on instead. In either case, with Leo Laporte no longer hosting The Screen Savers, I expect big changes on the station..." (Of course, at this point they've only agreed to buy.)
Leo is still hosting, he hosted today
keanmarine.com
Yes, because as we all know, Comcast means Quality.
- oZ
// i am here.
There. I've said my piece.
___ Shout Central - Crushes your nuts!
1) I will finally have techtv again on comcast 2) Techtv will have more funding which will provide for better programming. I guess when you can't buy disney the only thing left to do is buy techtv. It's a sad world we live in when megaconglomerates can't get everything theey want
NJ Local Music Scene
Having Basic Cable only, I've never seen either channel. Are either any good? What kind of shows do they have? Is it worth upgrading for these? Or is my broadband connection (hence the reason for the Cable, Basic Cable + Internet Just Internet) a better resource?
The Kerr Divine: My wife's battle with a mysterious illness.
I assume TechTV is just one of those stations you get on Satellite, cause it doesn't come on basic cable (I don't have 'digital' cable cause I don't see the need for it).
What do they cover on TechTV? Is it worthwhile?
CVS
free ipod and free gmail!
Anybody else have a weird feeling that Comcast is trying to buy out the entire world.... one step at a time they are acquiring important groups... then again i'm probably just paranoid. Any idea what their real intent is with all these purchuses?
If all we had left were Vulcan Jedis... would they say: "Live long, prosper, and may the force be with you?
...since Microsoft owns quite a chunk of Comcast, once this deal goes through you will have heard the last of any criticism of Microsoft or their products on TechTV.
Perhaps well soon see Super-X-killerBOT agaist Mickey Mouse Show.
I have some lineup show ideas.... 1) On Macs 2) Chicks of teck world 3) On open source 4) Hot chicks of the tech world in bathing suits 5) Cool new toys 6) Hot chicks of the tech world in bathing suits showing off cool new tech toys 7) A show of extreme dating meets tech folks (with hot chicks only) .....
Evolution or ID?
It is to bad that both of these stations just seem to stay very light on the true tech stuff. It would be nice if it were more like a discovery channel for tech stuff. Heck I would love a station that shows different algorithms, or different ways to do things in different languages. But Tech TV and G4 (Especially G4) just seemed like the Commercial Channel that advertises all that is l33t. Tech TV has a couple of good show but they were still laking. I guess that is why I watch Nasa TV.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Even though I only have basic cable, I have seen countless hours of TechTV and G4 when I had the chance. TechTV showed in 1 hour what G4 bloated into 8.
G4 never had potential. Games are an interactive media. Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself? Why wait 25 minutes see a review on a game you're curious about when you can go online and find it in 25 seconds?
Hopefully this merger will in effect kill G4 completely and simply give TechTV a little more programming devoted to video games instead.
But then again, you'll probably have to pay a premium channel fee to get this new 2-in-1 channel anyway.
Let Adam Sessler be next to go!
Please keep X-Play and Anime Unleashed. They can dump all the other shows including that asswipe Martin Sargent
Comment removed based on user account deletion
WIll they still show Anime Unleashed? Will I get to see the second half of Last Exile?
--- Ban humanity.
As long as they don't fuck with Xplay...
"since Microsoft owns quite a chunk of Comcast,"
M$ is sneaky. They are trying to take over another industry right under our noses. Those sneaky bastards.
Evolution or ID?
You mean just like msnbc which covers all the anti microsoft stories just like the rest of the media?
Good observation. We know that Leo runs a Mac at home, perhaps these two stories are tied?
Some explanation to the Disney bid! I couldn't figure out why Comcast wanted a somewhat-struggling content provider in their portfolio, but now I see that They (as in MS) were looking for that key 3-12 year-old demographic.
"Daddy, Mickey said that all Linux users are terrorists, and that I should kick you in the shins until you buy Windows 2600"
The previous sig has been removed due to
Maybe they'll stop showing Robot Wars and put some decent shows on instead
I dunno what Robot Wars your watching, but the UK one is a really good show. The only thing spoiling it now are the adverts! (It changed channels here, never used to have adverts before.)
Who's with me?
G4 has posted a FAQ on the merger.
is that Comcast HATES HATES HATES DirecTV. G4 has never been on DirecTV because of that. Philadelphia Phillies games are never shown on DirecTV (at least not ones with Phillies coverage) because of their hatred of satellite.
I really hope that it doesn't cause TechTV to disappear off DirecTV. I have about 6 shows with Season passes on my TiVo from TechTV. I'll be seriously pissed.
In fact, I'm already pissed. I like TechTV just the way it is.
Joe Siegler
Webmaster - 3D Realms & Black Sabbath Online
Does this mean I might lose tech tv on my Directv satellite? This just allows Comcast to come out, and charge enough for the programming that other providers(small cable companies,directv,dish network) cannot afford the programming. As these large companies such as Time Warner, Comcast etc., start buying up more interesting programming such as tech tv, I think we will start to see a homogenizing affect. Worst case, they may find that these channels don't generate enough ratings, to make big ad dollars, so they drop them, after they have been assimilated.
I'd rather see Morgan Webb talk about shooting up ninjas.
"Starting next week..."
Maybe we'll get to see more of Sara Lane..
Comment removed based on user account deletion
By time I got to watch a decent stretch of TechTV again, it was December of 2001 and the channel was shot. TSS was repeating upwards of four times a day, that Lockergnome freak was destroying Call for Help and the news department seemed to ship everyone off to CNN.
Fast forward a little bit to 2002/2003 and Comcast now has G4 and Anime Network. TechTV is trying to get into anime (never figured that one out) to reach a "hipper audience." G4, even in its initial prime, was akin to watching a post-2001 TechTV (how many of you have watched our very own Wil Wheaton hosting the same handful of "Arena" episodes for close to a year?!?).
Now, I'm no fan of Comcast, but this does one thing: solidifies geekdom in one channel.
Comcast should:
1) Bring Wil back; 2) Give Leo a big, fat payraise; 3) Create a proper news department; 4) Send all of the anime over to Anime Network;
And, most importanly:
5) Get G4/TechTV (GeekTV?) and Anime Network on DirecTV so I CAN WATCH/TiVO THEM, DAMMIT! :D
In all, this is probably a good thing...
>(Of course, at this point they've only
>agreed to buy.)
At this point, I've onlya agreed to watch.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
TechTV was started by Paul Allen...remember him...the Microsoft guy...so you Comcast/Microsoft conspiricy is flawed(dollar short/day late). TechTV despite Paul Allen consistently bashes Microsft products.
Robot wars are the reason for my existence!
"If they existed, they would be here already." - Enrico Fermi
So poor bastids like me who have Comcast over regular not digital cable won't be able to watch it.
-- Boycott Shell
This is the product of a de-regulated environment. Companies buy each other with haste and speed. Partially because of comparitive advantage of a larger company. Partially to engratiate executives who's stock options become WAY more valuable around merger time. The consumers are the one's who ultimately loose.
Time-Warner, Comcast, Viacom, Disney, Clear-Channel and NBC all need to be broken up. Let's hope our next President (John Kerry) follows through on his some of his trust-busting promises.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
I waited and waited for so long for TechTV to improve enough so that I would watch it again. So now it's gotten good enough again that it's finally back on my lineup, and some mega-conglomerate is going to start screwing around with it? Time to vote it down on the Tivo, and start waiting all over again I guess....
to host a show together.
I figured they were toast when the bubble popped.
Seriously, I read about this yesterday on FC - I'm kind of surprised to see it here, too. While an occasional tech-centered show on a cable channel is one thing, having a channel devoted to it is another. Comcast may be able to make something of it, but more likely they'll just wind up taking a couple of the better shows and splicing them in elsewhere.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
One of the things you notice if you watch G4TV is the complete X-Box bias they have on any review shows.
If a game is multi-platform, its X-Box version is the one that is reviewed. For instance, the Madden release reviewed is the XBox one.
The XBox only games that are reviewed are the best that are available for Xbox, and always given glowing reviews.
The PS2 games reviewed are the dogs of the platform, and thus given middling to panning reviews.
bun-fhuinneog agam!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Blasphemey
The devil has taken television's saving grace. (minus adult swim)
My Bill went from basic programming for about 30something dollars to 70something dollars. Who's my cable company? You guessed it. Comcast.
I still pay out the cash, though the thing that really irks me is that I don't get the stations I had come to take for granted. TechTV, CNBC world (OK, I'm a dork), and a bunch of other, slightly less important channels.
I guess I'm glad, as I'll apparently now likely get TechTV back, but I seriously hope this doesn't mean another rate hike (above the 8% from last fall, out of which we got zero new channels, and a new arrangement of channels so that I had to relearn every channel again.
My Rant is done...I'm going to go watch Dawson's Creek.
...cable modems and how much faster they are compared to Verizon DSL. And stories on how to hold down your satellite dish when the slightest of breezes blow it into the neighbors yard.
Not kissing up here, but TechTV is boring and dumbed down (often infuriatingly so).
Yes, but TechTV's outgoing owner is Vulcan Ventures, which is a VC firm that's mainly owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. So, one link to MS out, another in. I don't think this is much of a net change at all from that perspective.
Tech TV has some great shows and a tradition of advocating Linux (and Mac, BSD, ect...) and OSS, they also offer consistently objective product reviews, but 3 or 4 strong shows 3 tech/journalism shows and 22 robot war, spy school assorted crap shows do not make up a 24 hr cable channel. Well actually they do but not a really go one. I've never watched G4 and Tech TV already has a pretty good gaming show but maybe combining the 2 could make for a stronger more consistently watchable tech channel (god knows my wife would just love that).
On the other hand Comcast would probably put their people in charge and as pointed out earlier Microsoft owns a chunck of Comcast, so we could see the only channel on cable that has some Linux/OSS programming become Redmond poster boys.
I adore the UK Robot Wars that are currently shown on TechTV. I have limited basic+cable modem here so I don't get scifi or any other cool channels (who has time to watch TV anyway?). TechTV is one of the few good channels I get.
I catch Anime Unleashed now again but my favorite shows are Robot Wars, Xplay, and Unscrewed. Wil Wheaton's appearance helped me get through a long night trying to finish a project. Wil, if you're reading this, your threat to give Martin Sargent a cock-punching for dissing your website was awesome. You had the fist all ready and everything.
(Another note to Wil: My real name is Wesley so while growing up you were my favorite television namesake. Well, the only other choice was that kid from Mr. Belvediere...)
... is that what you get on the other cable - next to the one going to my cable modem?
The fact is, computer-based news/facts are so much more easily obtained on the web (with a computer, of all devices). What you're suggesting is like making a radio station dedicated to innovations-in and methods-of television broadcasting.
I can understand what you're looking for, but television is the wrong medium. Stations like G4/TechTV will always be targeted towards those who plan to make the jump into computers, or who have only been recently indoctrinated into the WWW.
I guess our favorite penguin won't be showing up in the props anymore... considering M$ owns a lot of comcast...
Only thing I've ever watched on Tech TV was the annotated version of the Thunderbirds.
They used to have it on late at night. Not sure anymore if they still show it but the popups with comments, insights and background info was very cool.
I remember watching this show in college. Back then they previewed new video cards, talked about software, and played will all sorts of gadgets. They also let people know about new products comming out. So I am suprised the show never took off. I never once was offered Tech TV with my cable deal after leaving the dorms (it has been many years, and I now get 60 channels, twice as many as in college). I know when I was in college, if Tech TV gave a good review for some cool product, someone in the dorm would purhcase it. So they had a great audiance for selling products. I wonder why they failed?
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
(that, or someone make an anime channel, dammit.)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
While I hate to see Leo no longer hosting TSS, so long as Patrick Norton is still there we're ok. I think he's one of the only true geeks on TV right now. Rock on Patrick.
Keep Austin Weird!
I for one welcome our Monthly Cable Bandwidth for no reason Capping Overlords.
This is one of my big gripes about TSS. The combo of Pat and Kevin seem to be a good mix. They just need to move Sara off the show, so her and Kevin stop kissing eachothers ass on the show.
Str8Dog
using System.Darkside; public
Two nights ago, I came home from work to find that my TechTV was no longer included in my programming. I called Comcast to see what was going on and they informed me that the 'Buisness Network' channels were now $5 more a month. This included TechTV, Bloomberg, and a few others. Of course, I told them to go ahead and charge me the $5. I was curious about the sudden billing change, but now I understand. A lot of money was probably spent on this, and I'm sure they wanted to see how many users jumped at the chance to have TechTV back before they annouced the buy.
This is very disheartining news. Pretty soon TechTV will become the equivalent of MTV to music. Very very sad day.
In general I like Leo (especially as compared to many other TechTV-ers), but you are sooo right about his interrupting. It's like he's so enthusiastic to show off how much he knows that he
Leo jumps in
"finishes their sentences for them and follows up with another couple of points that leave the guest just to sit there and give an awkward, 'uh, yeah' while Leo continues on? Yeah, I hate that, too..."
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
I've been watching TechTV for about 3 years now, and I can tell you that Leo didn't always interrupt his co-hosts or guests. Only within the last 9-12 months has this started to happen. He used to work VERY well with Patrick Norton.
There is a local public access technology show in my area, and the host on that show NEVER lets his guests finish their sentences. It must just be something about the business.
Could someone explain to me what G4 is? I can't view their homepage without turning on cookies and I find it rather strange that (what I presume to be) a technology website (which would in theory understand privacy) would force anyone to turn on cookies to do so much as view their main index page.
Right. With their 7.4% of the company, they control the entire direction of the company.
Maybe Comcast simply wanted to branch out into more fields, like movie-making and distribution? Getting a piece of the action that the stations themselves pay for the rights to air a given movie or show would be rather nice for the bottom line.
Or maybe... just maybe... the head of Comcast (whose name eludes me right now and who reportedly runs things pretty much on his own) wants to turn Disney back to what it was. Some people -- even CEOs -- do have fond memories of what Disney was at one time.
Oh, wait... This is Slashdot. Let me adjust my words for the benefit of the community.
COMCAST IS IN IT TO RULE THE WORLD! THE HEAD OF COMCAST HAS A COLD LUMP OF LEAD FOR A HEART AND IS INTERESTED ONLY IN THE BOTTOM LINE! HE IS EVIL AND MUST BE STOPPED!!!
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Speaking of Comcast...Myself and several others that I know have experienced the following situation:
Months after moving and promptly cancelling cable/broadband service we have received letters from credit collection agencies informing us that we owe comcast money. Seems to come from charges occuring after cancelling service.
So now not only do we owe them money, but our debt is recorded on our credit as non-payment.
Anyone else out there have this problem?
I have Comcast (have had them since they bought Storer Cable back in 1988), but have never gotten (or even seen) TechTV. Maybe they'll add it to my channel lineup, it sounds like an interesting channel.
Is that Tech TV is basic cable here (Channel 18 in the Saginaw area). They had it splitting time with some lame government access channel going all the way back to when it was ZD-TV, but about a year ago maybe, they stopped cutting it out, and it's full time now.
What's the matter with robot wars? Do you really expect the media to cater to the needs of nerds (and now, on nbc, steven hawkins on theories of black hole string formation?) They would rather have wall to wall cop shows type programming till the sun goes nova (oops) [tune in next week: don't miss the sun going nova!!, here on spike tv! boy, that could cause it to get hot on survivor!! Ha Ha!..]
If your a current DirecTV subscriber like I am, you can probably kiss Tech TV goodbye. Comcast is a partner with the Dish network who have agreed to show TechTV to their subscribers. This means that unless DirecTV has a strong long-term contract for TechTV program, your SOOL.
People that follow the advice they peddle on Screen Savers are heading for trouble.
TechTV should go the way of the dinosaurs...
IMO...
Wrong. It was started by Ziff Davis. I actually had DirecTV and watched the launch. It was called ZDTV at the time. It was sold to Paul Allen and renamed TechTV
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
The irony is that right now, Tech TV is owned by Vulcan Ventures....which in turn is owned by Paul Allen....
I for one welcome our new Comcast overlords!
I't "FAB" with me
Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
I'm holding out for the perl programming channel (PPC).
Anyone who hasn't seen the "EZ-Jackster" episode of "The Proud Family" that Disney aired, should definitely try to hunt it down. (you can probably find it on your better P2P services ;))
It portrays a girl using a P2P service (EZ-Jackster) to effectively bringing down capitalism as we know it. Even the news anchor loses her job and subsequently blames the girl and EZ-Jackster for it.
The entire episode touches on a controversial subject with subtlety of this satiric image.
See this NewsForge article for more information.
Or will Comcast pull it from DirecTV in another lame ploy to get us all to subscribe to lame ass "digital cable?"
We all know how wonderful Comcast's "customer service" has been...
I am interested in G4 TV but don't have it. It will be cool if TechTV merged with G4, and got rid of stupid programming like Unscrewed. I only watch TechTV when they have sweepstakes, and even then for just a few minutes since they use the same times to show the codes. TechTV is just plain boring.
The better somebody is at being a geek, the worse said person is at appearing on TV. Leo's interruptions are mostly of the nature of keeping the guest on topic and on pace, which is the responsiblity of any TV host. Sometimes, you've just got to cut the guest off because letting them ramble is even worse TV.
And as anyone who's ever wrked for him knows, he's a one trick pony (Microsoft). Basically everything else he's owned he's screwed up. This is very good news indeed....
...I can't stand TechTV. It's the biggest example of "armchair techie" pandering around. You can't watch TechTV and expect to learn anything from it that's of any use unless you're a typical home user or hobbyist. When I first got DirecTV, I was hoping that TechTV would be less consumer oriented and more technology oriented. But most of what they feature on their programming is very boring and old news. Then their non-technology programming blows pretty hard too. I mean, Thunderbirds? Come on! Why not feature good SciFi that is truly "geek worthy". Doctor Who comes to mind. Anyway.. I imagine TechTV will go from worse to hellish. Fortunately I don't watch much TV these days and I NEVER watch TechTV.
Un-news
Seems to have left out mention of the viewers. Guess it's not a win for us. Will it be like MSNBC and "The Site" all over again? Screw the intelligent programming, let's pander to product placement and marketing!
Right! Because heaven knows MSNBC never covers anything of interest to Slashdot readers.
/. Does this mean MSNBC is more Linux-oriented than /. now? Woo-hoo...umm...bugger.
Wow...stories on SCO suing AutoZone, HP launching Linux-based PCs worldwide, GFI's Linux development plans, Novell and SuSE, more SCO, EV1 and SCO, etc., etc. Heck, I'm not entirely sure all of these stories were on
Or Fox, who covers all of the anti-Republican news stories just like the rest of the media... just in their own way.
Yeah, that was meant to be a joke.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
It's available free in the U.S. on Dish Network (channel 9400), many cable networks or direct from Ku-band satellite on Galaxy 10R (11.805GHz, Horizontal, 4580ksym/sec).
Straight from the lab to your living room.
You know I don't get it. Here is a company that cann afford to pay cash for Disney, but they cannot get my billing account and my ISP login synchonized so that I do not have to use two different login names and passwords.
Insert Generic Sig Here:
Yes, I'm surprised more people aren't complaining about him. The guy was clueless and yet would keep interrupting smarter people with his dumb comments. Leo was the most annoying thing about techtv. Him and the annoying young fella(his son?).
A fellow named Paul Allen owns Vulcan Programming which owns(ed) Tech TV. That never stopped them from bashing M$.
Get a FREE Sony PS3
MSNBC is totally inaccessible with Safari in Mac OS X, and has been for a few months. It wasn't my home page, but I did check it at least once a day, and I used to love to view the "Week in Pictures" feature, but that one has been inaccessible to Safari users for even longer.
IE for Mac will load MSNBC, but it takes a long, long time and it refreshes the page many times before it's done.
When it first came out, I had no problems whatsoever viewing MSNBC with Safari.
I'll agree with everything you said, minus TSS repeats. Until TechTV gets a seperate west coast feed, the repeats are important. They did away with them for a while, and I simply stopped watching the channel.
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
but they should get some less annoying hosts. I understand the topic is computers/technology but Patrick seems mad at everyone and that one younger guy with the curly hair is just plain annoying. I haven't watched it in a while so I'm not positive they are still on.
i absolutely agree. sure, he has personality, but it just makes him a laughing stock. all that comes to mind are images of leo assing around while patrick tries to answer a good question. however, when there is a completely moronic question, he sure does take the reigns, doesn't he.
leo would probably make an awesome junior high school teacher, just keep him off tv.
It's Vulcan that's selling to Comcast. Vulcan=Paul Allen. Remember him?
"save a cow, eat a vegetarian"
Regardless...my point was Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft was the owner and they constantly bash Microsoft on the Screen Savers...so the orginal posters fears of conspiricy are unfounded. started...owned... it's a moot point to the thread.
LET'S GO FLYERS! Going all the way to FRIGGIN STANLEY CUP! And JR returns to tonight...
Actually on Charter cable in Connecticut TechTV is on channel 66, regular non-digital cable. About a year ago it was on the digital channels but I guess it got really popular.
Yeah, sheesh. Discovery Channel maintains breathless "news" pages about critters like the freakin Goat Sucker ! Gee, that's a clear sign of serious science journalism. They're a bit more accurate than Weekly World News, but not by much.
i was planning on calling comcast this week and asking why they dont have techtv. every time i head into NYC thats my favorite station to watch.
http://ipod.fresh27.net/
This is one interesting prospect opened up by the G4 merger. Eventually, when the two stations combine into one, they're going to have a leftover C-Band transponder lease and quite a bit of master control equipment... They very well could create a west coast feed since they'd already be halfway there...
As long as they tone down the TechTV logo animation I'll be happy...It gets annoying after a while. After all, I might forget what I was watching...riGHT!?!
I want my! I want my! I want my Eee PC!
it sucks about as hard as slashdot does. tech tv stories are about as lame as /. stories are. i wouldn't watch it even if it was on basic cable
only two good things about tech tv. sarah lane, and cat's boobs. and yes, all you geeks have searched for cat's boobs online.
Oh yeah.. Remember Erica Hill! She went from Techlive to CNN Headline News.. Man she is hot!
At least TechTV still has Sarah Lane....for now anyways.
I used to love this show and then it disappeared from the TechTV lineup a few years ago. John would moderate discussion between industry experts on a particular topic. And then he would grill them with his own questions. It was always interesting.
Id rather see more programming like this on the channel but I think those days are long gone.
I think TechTV needs more veterens like Dvorak. We know Leo isnt necessarily leaving the lineup, but who knows what in store for us.
Maybe they will bring some talent on board and make some interesting shows.
I guess I better start taping Robot Wars then...
It has been 29 years since the Flyers won the Cup.
It will be at least another 29 before they do again.
Loser.
Founder's Shares of Microsoft... yummm...
Paul Allen is about the worst business man and biggest loser of money the world has ever known. From Asymetrix, His Dot.com ventures, Cable Companies, TV shows, and Sports teams, have just about all lost TONS of money, and Shareholder value. Just like you should always invest in what Buffet buys, you should always short whatever Allen buys...
About the only thing he does reasonably well on is RE. But that is because he constantly bullies the local governments to fund huge portions of his property and infrastructure. And if he doesn't get his way, he sells and moves on.
If he hadn't had the right friend at the right time, he would have been a very average person in the world.
Okay, so I could do without some of the grandstanding that goes on, but I like to see the various robot designs and how they stack up against each other. Maximum carnage!
Here's my idea for a killer robot design: make a 2-wheeled "stinger" type design that can move around while still spinning. You'd need some computer control to modulate the motors, and perhaps some kind of tracking system such that the robot can tell which way it's facing. But this would overcome the biggest weakness of this design: the fact that it can't move while executing a spin attack.
I think this is a good thing. I really liked Leo when the show first started years back but, lately, he's become really annoying.
I must be the only one who's angered by this, because I actually WATCH g4, and I'm going to miss all the shows. It really sucks that they are going to merge them, because G4 was the one reason I kept the extended cable. Now it's going to be filled screen savers and random other crap when all I want to do is watch Filter.
How to Speak Leet
5. Hay/straw hybrid glued all over and sticking out of the case - don't leave the computer on for too long.
4. A computer case made out of cardboard
3. Moss glued all over the inside of the case, bringing a nice, wet, musty flare to your computer.
2. Replacing of fans with cool LEDs. Again, make sure to not leave it on for too long.
(wait for it)
1. Your hard drive set on top of the case with the metal case removed, your motherboard painted orange with latex paint, and random pieces of the motherboard replaced by cut out pieces of your OTHER computer.
Sadly, every one of the above is inspired by a real event on Trading Spaces.
Granted, I don't spend a lot of time there...
Comcast, and other major cable providers, plan to move all channels to digital cable. It's just a question of timing. Analog cable is going to disappear. The last I heard, they are waiting for the price of digital cable boxes to decline to the point where they can afford to give them to all of their analog customers.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
(But when I want information on XFree86, I do need to go elsewhere before doing the search.)
when they were ZDTV. I still watch it constantly but they all seem overly commercialized and a good bit dumber now. In the ZDTV days it was pretty much Leo, a TV with a computer, and some wanker answering phones. Them were the days... although Leo wasn't exactly a brain surgeon back then either.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
WTF happened to the "Thunderbirds" !!???
I use to watch it every night at 10pm CST.
TechTv hasn't been the same for me since they dropped "unscrewed" in its place.
who doesn't like marionettes ? let alone, super spy world savior marionettes and their kickass model ships ?
and, that "pop-up-video" style information was great.
duk
I think Leo is a good TV host where he usually jumps in to help inform viewers who may not know what guests, etc. are talking about.
It's Patrick Norton's inarticulateness that annoys me more...he'd start talking about something cool, then would usually just mumble his way through without explaining why it's cool, etc.
I'd prefer a Leo, Kevin combination.
As much as I respect Leo, he is making a good move. I think Kevin Rose, of the broken fame, being in the driver's seat a bit more will be good. Leo is still on TechTV but I think gracefully passing the torch reflects well on his character.
Are you secure enough in your masculinity to run 'man touch'?
DirecTV (and other satellite companies) will often work with supers and landlords to get distribution in apartment buildings. It's dead easy to do, assuming the builder didn't cheap out on the building's cabling.
:-)
Just an idea...
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Well since Paul Allen Currently owns TechTV I don't see why that should be any different.
Leo Laporte keeps interrupting people cuz he is an attention whore.
They could potentially have a good channel once they throw away all of the crappy stuff from each network. They might even have enough content to avoid the amazing repetition of g4. Although the informercials would probably have to stay.
Current, I can't get techtv, even though nearby counties have it. Since I get G4, I'm hoping that now I'll get the "combined" channel.
"I forgot my mantra."
I hope they take Radio Controlled Wars, I mean Robot Wars, off the air.
Why not just scrap any show that has the word wars in it. Then that would include JunkYard Wars.
Hmm. personally I get a kick out of Robot Wars (and so does my son) and think The Screen Savers sucks. There's a hell of a lot more technology involved in building any one of the robots than they cover in several seasons of The Screen Savers. However, I probably appreciate it more because of the amount of time I have spent using a solding iron and watching my father (who works as a metal fabricator and owns a complete metal shop for restoring old hot rods).
Drives me nuts when someone asks me if I watch the screen savers (usually refered to as "TSS" in chats and emails) because I am "into computers".
I just can't respect a show that is commonly refered to by a set of initials that also happens to also refer to Toxic Shock Syndrom. Tampon TV.
But when you say "Quality" in connection with TV, you usually quality of content. As in this case. Alas, those who are hoping that Comcast will raise the quality of the programming on TechTV are too optimistic. Comcast, like other media monopolies, doesn't like to spend a lot of money on programming. So more reality shows. But it's about robots, so it's a tech reality show, so that's OK!
Paul Allen cashed out of Microsoft just as it started getting real evil. He's sort of like Woz to Bill Gates' Jobs. Although I twinge when ever I hear the "co-founder of Microsoft", he actually seems like a pretty cool guy. He opened up a Rock museum in Seatle, and he's setting up his own SETI radio telescope array.
As much bashing as TechTV has received here, and I agree that some of their programming, like robot wars, was lame, it still was IMO, the best network of its kind. If Comcast takes it over, it will go downhill fast.
One thing I really respected was their desire to not edit out their own computer problems. Someone would call in with a Windows question, and their computer would crash on-air -- and they felt it important to let others see that they too, had problems with blue screens of death and things not working properly. You can bet that Paul Allen's crew will edit out these segments so that everyone who watches will see a flawless computer presentation and therefore think the problems they're having are their fault, and not the result of crappy software.
The TechTV crew are very honest folks that don't bow to the current corporate flavor. I saw them test three brands of wireless push-to-talk devices and they had no reservations about saying which ones sucked and which ones worked. That's refreshing. I guess now we'll see a big string of washed up celebrities going on the show to hawk their latest flop, peppered with more over-hyped software and hardward so that it will be a Tech-ized version of Entertainment Tonite. Oh well. Buh bye TechTV.
I haven't watched TechTV for the last two years and was shocked when I saw their new "lineup"!
Every single show had girls with big breasts that were prominently displayed. Girls with smaller breasts looked like they were stuffing and wearing push-up bras.
I guess they misunderstood new management's directive to "keep abreast of science and technology"
i always have to catch techtv when i'm at home or at my girlfriends house...it's not available up at college. i even went as far as emailing the comcast powers at be...no success maybe it'll be added now that they own it...hopefully
See, I love Tech TV, I'm watching it right now actually. It's fun and enlightening. I have no idea what a "Lockergnome freak' is but whatever it is I must be one as well because I liked him just fine and was not happy when Leo replaced him. Part of the reason I liked him as a host was because, as my son said, he's a real person. Not a pretty boy, not a talking head with nothing to say but an actual smart person. A real geek. Probably the kind of fellow who wouldn't call another person a name like a 'Lockergnome'
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
I've noticed this SOO many times... i'll read my daily slashdot, and later that night or the next, I'll hear about the news on TechLive or such..... I bet the producers come here for their daily meat.
The Digital Couture Collection
Leo started Call for Help years ago, and was the original host, and Chris Pirillo was Leo's hand-picked choice for the show. But Pirillo, the freak of Lockergnomishness I speak of, was utterly annoying on the show. I have only turned off the TV faster for Dubya when Pirillo would come on.
I'm not asking for a pretty boy, but I am asking for someone who stays within the bounds of the conversation and off of tangents, which Pirillo had problems with.
Their original shows dropped like flies in recent years and most of their on-air talent got the ax. Now its just a bunch of BBC shows + the Screen Savers and Tech Live. Some of the BBC stuff is fine, but, FFM and Robot Wars are boring and rerun 50 times a day.
The Screen Savers has also gone downhill. It was much better when Martin Sargent, Megan Morrone and Morgan Webb were on it. Its too bad to watch it slowly die out.
X-Play used to be good when Kate Botello was on it. Now, it sucks, because they've made the mistake of doing unfunny skits and trying to get laughs at Adam Sessler's expense.
He was really off base with a lot of his commentary - but it was interesting to hear.
I believe Apple had a key role in he and that obnoxious "loderback" guy getting off the air at Tech TV.
Can anyone tell me too why they think Morgan Webb is so pretty? She has that "down's syndrome" look - IMHO.
Also the chemistry between show hosts is SO fake it's comical - Patrick and Leo (screensavers) - try too hard to bee funny - Leo Laporte is a good guy and knowledgeable - Patrick is just an "a**"
Where is the emmy winning show "eye drops"?
I do agree with other posts here - they steal a lot from slashdot - but to be fair they've had Taco on a few times I think.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
As long as they carry the uncensored Women of TechTV, I welcome our new Comcast overlords!
We can agree to disagree about the worth of Chris Prillo as a host. I thought he was better than fine and I appreciated how very good he was with answers to questions given to him on the fly. The things you didn't like about him were perhaps things that I found more interesting than the usual teleprompter reading person. In any event, thanks for the link and the information I didn't know. I still think calling anyone a 'freak' is a bit too harsh.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
When I saw Craig as the star, I thought it might be worth checking out. Now I can't even watch Red Dwarf without thinking about his terrible career move and how it has ruined my respect for him and TechTV.
Now that Leo's leaving, I have a feeling most of the stuff they talk about is going to be inaccurate, especially when it comes to UNIX/Linux and Mac stuff. Already they say a few incorrect things every day, and hardly ever mention (better) Linux or Mac alternatives to Windows software packages that they cover.
We'll probably see more really bad Windows tips (who cares about IE?). And more of Patrick Norton, ugh. I think the show jumped the shark when he became a full-time host. While he knows standard Windows programs, he's really lacking in his Linux and Mac knowledge, and he's certainly not very entertaining to watch.
You guys must be nuts. Patrick Norton is terrible--he knows very little about Windows stuff, he knows nothing about Linux, and he doesn't know what he's talking about most of the time. I remember when he first joined the show--he was recommending Windows ME, and saying how great it was. I couldn't believe it. I recall him making other recommendations and saying other things that were outright wrong.
If Patrick were a true geek, I'd be all for him being on the show. But as it is, it seems the only person who has a very good all-around geek knowledge is Leo--at least there is some balance on the show when Leo is there.
When Leo leaves, I have no idea what they're going to do. It certainly won't be the same show.
I'm suprised they don't fire that nasty whore.
This may well be the beginning of the end.
1) Leo cuts back to CfH, then quits Cfh (Probably is seeing the writing on the wall.)
2) Talent LOSS MUST stop. TT has lost 2 fantastic anchors Erica Hill & Sumi Das to other media. Need to keep the talent to keep the people watching.
3) Comcrap hates DBS and BUD, thats why the regional sports channel in the Philadelphia area is distibuted via microwave or fiber. Thus comcrap doesn't have to share with DBS. I look for this to happen w/ TT as each contract with the cable MSO's, DBS and regional carriers come up for renewal, w/exception of comcrap areas.
4) Better programming! SS, CfH great. As for the anime DUMP IT! robot wars/battle DUMP IT! Bring back Max Headroom ! XPlay - DUMP IT! PLEASE! Put Morgan back on SS or some place else, but shows about games need to go. FFM, Spy School, Conspiraces, Wired for Sex all good. Now as for Martin Sargent, So long as he stays where he is and OFF SS and other shows he stay. In the "Late Night" format he's fine, but in any other area he doesn't belong. I am not a fan, but can deal with the show where it is now.
5) STORY REPEATS! ! STALE NEWS! TechLive needs to cease immediatley padding their shows with reruns of stories from previous shows. TL also needs to quit discussing movies, MOST ESPECIALLY I am sick and tired of hearing about bullet time, any thing related to matrix, and lord whatever, disney, nemo, animated any thing. I am not interested in these crap books and/or movies. They are not worth the time spent on them, not they worth the awards nominated or received by them. Same goes for ipods, overpricesd. My $30 cd player does just fine at playing CD's and MP3 CD's in the car and at the beach.
A daily TechNews Cast, which I know TL is trying so hard to be, but is not cutting it.
Now about those commercials. If I see one more ditech, diet pill or some other related scammercial I am going to die. I am sick of hearing about it. Also that stupid commercial for training with the klaxon blowing, annoying!
I don't know what G4 was/is but if its related to gaming, my days of watching TT may be over shortly.
More shows on home automation, home technology like power cells, solar panels, voip, how to set up this stuff and use, etc. (NO this has nothing to do about being a weeenie greenie.) Putting technology to work in the home for security and convienence.
More Linux!
A new software show that reviews and tests new software for the PC. (NOT GAMES! and NO MS software allowed, open source, shareware, freeware, and NON MS/Apple.)
LESS MtraSh
SS - LESS Case modding. I don't care that theres little LED's on the fans, or theres a neon light or anything else. All the PC's are stuck behind a desk, in a closest or buried behind something.
1311393600 - Back to Black
Gah. I hope for the best, but fear the worst. TechTV is one of the few channels I still watch occasionally. I sure hope Comcast doesn't screw it up.
-Rich
YES!!!! Seriously, the guy NEVER let the person he was interviewing finish a thought. Leo always interrupts and gives, usually wrong, commentary on the subject.
Like this:
Leo: So John... how did you come up with the idea?
John: Well, I was going to school at
Leo: You went to University of hogwash right? What was that like in those days?
John: I started at UoH for a semester, but graduated from Noplace Technical. Shortly after that I was working for a startup
Leo: a startup, wow.... you must have been making the big bucks then, what were they doing?
And it would just go on and on like that.
It's SOOOOO nice when Patrick gets to do the interviews when Leo is away, the guest actually gets to speak.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
What's wrong with ticketmaster?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Frankly I find all the "hosts" annoying to some degree
Leo is by far the worst, ignorant, loud and he continually interrupts people smarter than he is.
Patrick needs to stop saying "well, ya know what...." before or in the middle of every sentence
Kevin needs to either learn more than on hand gesture, or stop doing it every 15 seconds
Sarah needs to go away, or at least not be on screen. She's not very knowledgable and she's not very good eye candy, unlike Morgan, Jessica and Erica (or formerly Sumi and Sumi) who are both and then some.
Yoshi should have his own segment at least a few times a week. The guy has some really neat ideas, but hearing them has always been impossible because he's always on screen with Leo the interruptor. But somebody does need to explain to Yoshi the difference between "mod" and "built from scratch".
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Yes, but TechTV's outgoing owner is Vulcan Ventures, which is a VC firm that's mainly owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. So, one link to MS out, another in. I don't think this is much of a net change at all from that perspective.
It has been noted several times on this venerable website that Paul Allen was out of MS...way before it became the evil empire.
Comcast took over AT&T for my cable provider, since then my cable service has been terrible.
They better not rune TechTV, I know Leo is a busy man and I hope it was his choice to leave TSS.
But I can easly see the ratings going down, I am a loyal fan so it will take a lot to get me to go away from TechTV
Since I am a mostly paying comcast customer I am going to make sure they get my thought on this, and I sugguest that everone else does too.
-BigWurm-
Or did I miss something?!?!
I'd be happy to see Patrick leave. How many times can he say "basically" in one episode? Damn, that's tiring after a while.
Oh, and to a lesser degree, "let's back up" gets overused, too.
About 2 years ago Comcast removed tech TV from the lineup where I live. People have called and bitched (and bitched and bitched, I know a girl there who does quality control for their "call up and bitch" line) but comcast doesn't care. They don't even offer Tech TV on Digital Cable where I am. Recently, they added them to on demand, so you can watch screen savers for like $3 a pop. Does this mean comcast will get off the cockboat and actually give us tech tv back, at least as a digital cable channel?
I have to find it funny, because the girl I knew who worked there told me the reason tech tv was dropped from basic cable here was that they wanted too much money for the ratings they get....then comcast goes and buys them. LOL
Leo, great but his humor is a little weird.
Dvorak. Brought some credibility. Even if you disliked him, he had some great opinions.
Patrick, comes across as a know it all. Someday, he'll do us a favor and leave.
Martin, what an idiot. I can't believe he has his own show. I can't wait for it to be dropped. Yuck. In the years I've been watching TechTV, I haven't figured out why he's there. Maybe he's funny to adolescents. I just don't get it. Wait a minute, my kids don't like him either.
Morgan, nice tits, but annoying. I hate X Play now. I'm sure she's sweet. Thank God that awful dyed hair is gone. The show is so stilted. I liked it more with Kate and I'm not a Kate fan at all.
Sessler. Weird, but he's good at what he does. Just get rid of Morgan, please. The X-Play format just doesn't work as well as the old show with Kate. Forced dialog. Just lame.
Stephanie, cute.
Chris Leary. Seems like a dumb jock type, but does a pretty good job.
Pirillo rocked. Too bad he's gone. He gave the channel some credibility. He's very intelligent.
Kevin. Well, I'm tired of the whole dark tip crap. It's getting old. I'm tired of the channel just trying to appeal to the rap loving lowest common denominator type. Oh, and "The Broken" is retarded. Jeez, it's him and Foo Foo now renamed double D or some stupid thinking they look cool drinking beer on the couch together and thinking I'm a cool rap fuck so I'll change my name and say wusup this is double d or some shit. Gag.
Foo foo... See above.
Swisher. Nice cans. I'd like to see her nude on the net. I'd do her. Yum yum. That said, I think Martin's show is trash.
Sara. See Swisher minus the cans. But very cute. I don't know if she knows anything. Doesn't seem to. But she doesn't really need to in her position.
Megan. I'd like her back. Not particularly cute or dynamic, but someone that I liked. She was cool to chat with.
Yoshi. Dude looks better without the weight. Good case mods. Kinda interesting. He's ok. Not great.
Cat. Cute and hot. But now that she's just some porno slut wannabe, I don't know. I'm just not interested now.
Lab rats. Keep them in the lab.
Shows
Invent this. Great show, wish there were more episodes.
Robot whatever. Let's kill the robot shows. It's on too often. Got too boring. I like robots a lot, but I turn off Tech TV as soon as I see them.
Unscrewed. Stupid. What a lame show. Take someone that is mildly funny and assume he's qualified for a talk show. I've watched it a few times and it was so bad that I just generally turn it off. I feel insulted about it all. What a waste of electricity.
Wired for Sex. Who fucking cares. Just sensationalistic shit. Are geeks really this hard up that they have to watch this show.
My wife saw some tech tv a couple months ago. She wondered when they got so trashy. We don't watch it nearly as much because it's stupid and we'd rather not have the kids see the stuff. If I wanted trash TV, we could watch the networks for free. Most of us buy cable to get away from that kind of programming. We haven't banned it and do still watch some shows. My kids who used to watch it a lot don't even watch it. If anyone should be intrigued by all the sex stuff, it would be them at their age. They're bored with it all.
If TSS sticks around, I wish they would get a director for the show that knew what he was doing. I'm tired of watching when they have guests like Bert Monroy where all the action is on the computer and the fucking director keeps cutting back to their faces and missing what they're doing. It drives me up a fucking wall. I don't give a rats ass if I see Leo, Patrick or Bert, when they're showing how to use some software, keep the fucking camera on the action PLEASE.
... so I'm a little biased as I have to listen to it AT LEAST 9 hours a day (and yes, it loops several times during that timeframe). Honestly, you'd think that they would have more than 2 hours of origional programming to show a week... Thanks all for the heads-up for the reruns tomorrow, I'll be sure to charge my headphones.
-Wes
I didn't see anything about viewers. In other words I suspect that your worries will turn out to be founded
When I was at G4, The Viewers were the last thing on management's mind. There were some executives who actually had a great deal of contempt for "those stupid gamers."
It's like that in most of television, though. The Viewer is just a potential sale for the advertiser. What The Viewer thinks just isn't important to The Company.
In this age of mega-mergers and vertically integrated companies who control distribution and content, they don't have to give a flying fuck about The Viewer, so they don't.
I was once a avid viewer of TechTV when it first came out and was struggling to exist. I was glad when it suceeded because I use to move around alot and it was nice to be able to watch The Screensavers in relativly small cable markets (like Danville, KY) Then it seemed all of a sudden, the programming quality went down the crapper. I always thought that the channel "had too much on its plate" so to speak. It kept the "flagship" programming, but changed formats/hosts so rapidly that it seemed to destroy it. Too hard to keep up with all those changes...Cute girls, though. I don't know if I like the idea of Comcast buying out TechTV though---I would almost rather have AOL-TW buy it...But I am glad it wasn't MS. The channel has been running so many MS/N ads lately I thought they had. BTW, I remember when Leo was the host of Call for Help....I really enjoyed that show when he was there. So they had to replace him with Chris Pirillo...what the hell happened to Chris anyway?
Oh thank God Leo's gone. I guess it's in every geek's nature to assume they know everything, but most of us don't wind up on TV bullshitting our way through callers questions. We post our bullshit answers here where they belong. On Slashdot.
Now, if they could just get Morgan Webb to shut up and look bitty. Tig old bitty. I'm still waiting for the leg-cross swap ala Basic Instinct with all those skirts she wears. At least it's a reason to watch the otherwise worthless X-Play.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Back off of my man Adam. :)
The guy does great reviews of games (unless he's biased, but then he always lets you KNOW that he's biased during the review), he's intelligent, he seems to have no shame which helps him to be very entertaining, he has a great sense of humor, I don't think I've ever used the word 'he' this many times in one sentence before...
Sessler and Kate rocked. Sessler is entertaining by himself. Sessler and Morgan are a good team now that she has loosened up a bit.
If Adam goes I go as X-Play is the only show I bother to catch on Tech-TV now.
You hit the nail on the head.
The show was great when it was Adam and Kate Botello, where they just reviewed games and made clever comments about them. Now, the show has completely lost its way. Morgan isn't even a gamer at all, how is it that she is reviewing games, other than the 2 obvious reasons the parent mentioned?
Now that I'm counting them out: in its heyday, TechTV was airing TSS shows at at (Eastern): 7pm, 11pm, 3am and then 8:00am (moving to live news at 9:30am to cover the stock markets for the day). I can see your point on that. But, for a while (after they cut the show back to 60 minutes as opposed to 90), it seemed like the channel was all TSS or anime... sort of odd, IMHO, and that's where I got tired of the channel.
I was always more partial to Sumi Das, myself, but I won't deny that Erica Hill is hot. :p
I would LOVE to watch Nasa TV too. Too bad its not available in HOUSTON on analog cable (see proof). Until very recently, it wasn't even on Digital Cable. It's stuffed in with EWTN now.
Anyone seen my low uid? last seen 10 years ago while panning the #@$# out of Taco's 'web based discussion system'
Comcast should:
1) Bring Wil back;
2) Give Leo a big, fat payraise;
3) Create a proper news department;
4) Send all of the anime over to Anime Network.
Ummm... HELL YEAH!
Except,
1) Wil burned his bridges with G4.
2) From the news releases so far, it doesn't sound like G4 management is going to give anyone a raise. And considering how Leo has diversified his interests of late, I am not sure he'll even be a part of G4.
3) OMG! Yes. ZDTV had a news dept that knew what the hell they were doing. TechTV seems to have lost all direction with their news dept. I just hope that G4 reports on more than just upcoming game releases and conventions.
4) Yeah. Although it will very difficult to fill 24/7 programing without using infomercials and anime.
c'mon lets do a Pat interview: ..mumble mumble mumble
Pat: so basically your saying that basically Im better at interviews than leo?
Guest: I'd better or you will hit me with that sledgehammer you macho techno guy
Pat: cool
Guest: Have you ever got in a fight..I mean with an animate object?
Pat: Well basically one time in my parents basement i basically
Guest: what? So is your fiance a girl really?
Pat: cool good stuff man you can check out more on cell phone ringtones at mumble mumble drool spit
What?? Who the hell do you think Paul Allen is? Where did he get is billions?
Jerry Springer.