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Comcast Fires TechTV Staff
Bocaj writes "Looks like it's curtains for TechTV staff. A Leo Laporte article says that Comcast has let the entire staff go. 'Per the WARN Act (governing plant closings) all the employees of TechTV have been given 60 days notice. The San Francisco operation will be shuttered by July. 100 of the existing jobs will be posted for those willing to relocate to LA.' No word on what will happen to all the shows or the channel."
... so what will become of Playboy's proposed "Women of TechTV" photo shoot? I'm still waiting for Morgan b00bies.
Direct from Bangalore!
"Let's buy a great channel and fire everybody!"
I'd hate to see them fire everyone and relocate it.
The Screen Savers was one of the few informational shows that didn't cater to the lowest common denominator or sponsors. The hosts seemed honest with their opinions and they gave good tips. They also had good coverage of OSX and Linux, as well as interviews with people from the FCC and RIAA and other organizations of interest to slashdotters.
Dammit, now where are all the clueless newbies going to learn about the all the cool hacker tricks covered in Kevin Rose's Dark Tips?
Looks like The Man has won yet again!
Direct from the G4 press release, it looks like the only TechTV originals surviving are Anime Unleashed, X-Play, The Screen Savers, Fresh Gear, and Robot Wars. It doesn't say specifically if those are the only TechTV shows to continue or if any of the old staff will keep their position.
As long as Adam Sessler doesn't come back I won't complain too much.
That they fire the employees, and not cancel the show. The show has potential, and could be better spent than running tech support for beginner users. Think of a tv show, that was somewhat equivalent to slashdot, a discussion of new ideas, and even some conflict. The show could even be hosted by a F/OSS and a MS person.
je suis parce que j'aime
At least it's only being moved to LA, and not, like.. India.
For taking my favorite channel off the air.
I'm sure it will be replaced with something highly mediocre. Weren't they thinking of combining G4 and TechTV? Now its just going to be G4? I've personally tried to watch G4 and couldn't do it.
I don't understand why they would can the entire network.
Well, now that TechTV is gone, I've got no reason to keep the digital cable around, everything else I want is on basic cable.
I have Comcast cable/internet service and never watched the show. I'm not sure if I just didn't notice it because I rarely watch tv, or if the Atlanta market didn't have it.
... Comcast goes even lower !
This signature was left intentionally blank.
Not Cat Schwartz!
Oh well, she will live on Photoshop.
The coolest voice ever.
TechTV will likely be merged with G4, a gaming channel. The new channel will have a little bit of both channels' content but will be more slanted towards gaming. Comcast bought TechTV a while back and has probably been planning this for a while.
http://www.nakednews.com
...the only place for technology in TV is coming up with better encryption schemes to stop those pesky sat pirates !
It really makes you believe in the old saying: 1,000 channels and there's nothing on.
From the FAQ:
Q: How does the merger expand G4's subscriber growth?
A: The merged network will be available to 44 million cable and satellite customers, representing every major MSO and satellite provider (28 million cable and 16 million satellite). G4, launched in April, 2002, is currently available in 15 million homes in 47 of the nation's top 50 television markets.
Q: What MSO's and satellite companies will carry the combined network?
A: Comcast; Time Warner; Mediacom; Insight; Cablevision; Charter; Adelphia; Cox; Cable One; Dish; and DirecTV.
Q: Who will be the network's chief executive?
A: Charles Hirschhorn, currently founder and CEO of G4, will oversee the merged network as CEO.
Q: Will the two services run independently of each other or be immediately combined?
A: The two channels will merge into one network. In the meantime, both G4 and TechTV will continue to air as independent channels, pending customary regulatory approvals underway.
Q: Where will the network be headquartered?
A: The merged network will be headquartered in Los Angeles.
Programming:
Q: What will a typical programming day look like?
A: The merged network will be the nation's premier 24/7 television network all about video games, technology and the gamer lifestyle. The G4 programming day will showcase many existing G4 and TechTV series such as G4's ICONS; PULSE; JUDGMENT DAY; PLAYERS, and CHEAT! as well as TechTV's ANIME UNLEASHED; X-PLAY; SCREEN SAVERS; FRESH GEAR; and ROBOT WARS. G4 will also premiere new original programming which will be announced at a later date.
Q: How many hours of original programming will the merged network produce?
A: After the networks merge, G4 will air more than 20 series and 800 episodes per year. New programs continue to be in development.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
what does this accomplish?
were they paid to much money for Compost's liking?
the Screen Savers will still have kevin Rose and David foo foo since they are single geeks who have nothing better to do but to relocate to LA. does comcast even what to keep the same format? or are they going to try to keep it to a low number of shows and jut have tech live in between documentary type programs like invent this and body hits?
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Just thinking out loud here... A Slashdot Channel would actually be pretty informative, covering lots of different aspects. Maybe even have guest Slashdoters invited to cover stories not covered already on the front page.
Then again, with TechTV's fate, maybe it wouldn't be such a success afterall.
Trolls lurk everywhere. Mod them down.
Comcast drone #1: Geeks already don't like us, right?
Comcast drone #2: Right.
Comcast drone #1: Something to do with the DMCA, no?
Comcast drone #2: Most likely.
Comcast drone #1: But they all like this TechTV show, right?
Comcast drone #2: Seems like it, yes.
Comcast drone #1: I have an idea....let's let the entire cast go and relocate to LA!
Comcast drone #2: Brilliant!
But, indeed, the merged network's headquarters will be in LA, where G4 has been headquartered. No surprise there.
Still, does anyone think that Comcast is so stupid as to spend all this money on a network, and then get rid of everything that makes people watch it?
- i was on TechTV a couple years ago... the publisher flew me out to SF and i got to take a cab to the studio... - the TechTV folks were very friendly, and Leo, et al. had a great crew... fast-paced, lots of good content, and an on-line chatter available in the studio to ask and respond to questions... - but of course, i'd expect nothing less from Comcast, one of the worst and most expensive cable companies in existence...
Since I watch the Screensavers I usually go to the Screensavers website and look up stuff in the show notes. Sometimes months later... There's alot of good info in there.
I like microcars
And I had just flipped it on 20 minutes ago for the first time in 5 months.
The onyl decent show on there was Xplay, but it wasn't current enough to really keep track of. The rest were low-budget fluff.
When's a decent tech/computer/geek channel going to come up?
hookers and grits.
Just for the record, (as a wikipedia admin) the TechTV people vandalized our article on monkeypox live on the air, and it has been a vandalism-magnet ever since. But it is a shame that they are cancelled - although I don't get them where I live, from what I hear, they did some good stuff.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
They seem to have this backwards. The entire G4 staff should have been fired and TechTV staff kept.
...on all fours, on my bed!
:-)
Come on, Morgan, I'll throw in comprehensive healthcare! Whaddaya say?
Maybe it's because i haven't watched TechTV in a bit, but some years ago it seemed really basic and geared towards someone with minimal computer knowledge but wants to be a know-it-all. It seemed like the same marketing fluff that gets handed around by the armchair MCSEs.
Only once did i ever see them mention linux, and never any bsd's...
Though, looking over some of your folk's posts, perhaps i've been missing out.
do() || do_not();
Too bad for the G4 sucks.
:-p
I love it when companies shoot themselves in the foot
Error 407 - No creative sig found
TechTV seemed to be catered to those who knew nothing of the Tech World. I found it to carry mostly worthless information, and dated news.
...I will personally go down to Comcast's Stupid HQ and, um, beat them up. Or something. Not Morgan. Noooooo....
I'm wondering how many of the Slashdot crowd actually watched Tech TV?
:( I still think there is room for a technology-oriented television channel but not yet. I don't know about USA but here in Canada, Tech TV was a digital channel so until digital boxes are almost standard, I don't expect these digital channels to take off...
I never subscribed to it, over here in Canada, but watched the free promotional period. It was certainly different from the typical stuff on mainstream tech shows. I wasn't a big fan of the channel since I am not into tech as much as the rest of you here.
I guess this is the last remnant of the dot-com boom
Sivaram Velauthapillai
Sivaram Velauthapillai
Seeking the meaning of life... @slashdot of all places
Can't believe they're screwed with the best channel on TV!!! Sign this petition and help comcast realize what a mistake they're making! http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi? tech001
Looks like I'm switching to DirectTV and DSL.... Screw Comcast!
SCO on the other hand seems to be making meritless accusations in court, is sueing its best clientel, and is betting everything on getting money from IP that they really don't own. This is not common buisness practices. Among the suits who approve of the comcast-style layoffs, the types of things SCO is doing would classify them as scum. No, comcast hasn't gone lower than SCO, they haven't come close.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
At least there's hope that their next female sidekick will inadvertently post here tits on her blog.
The only difference between genius and stupidity is genius has its limits.
Finally! More broadcast bandwidth for the World's Scariest Reality Midget High School Survival Makeover Elimidate Police Fear Mini-series.
Now if we could only wipe out those damn persistant channels of informative crap like PBS, Discovery, and that other "high-brow" crap. Maybe we'll finally get a whole channel dedicated to quality shows like "The View" and "American Idol".
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
...then the offer will be made to Sarah Lane.
I just heard some sad news on talk radio - TechTV was found dead at its San Francisco home this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone will miss it - even if you didn't enjoy their constant commercial breaks, oh wait, fuck TechTV.
So, there's a station. With shows that people like. We're going to take this station and fire everybody. Why? Because they're people that our targeted viewer base can relate to. We must make sure to piss off the people we're aiming all our programming at. Because that's the 2nd "???" step. Piss everybody off.
About 2 months ago I started watching TechTV. I will say that I watched G4 until I got TechTV, it was much closer to my heart - overall computing, including games, not just console games. I love g4, but will drop my digital cable once TechTV is removed.
I don't understand the point of buying it and changing it up so much, maybe the numbers weren't good? There MUST be something to it that we can't see.... right? (riiiight).
How about Slashdot getting the funding to create a Slashdot TV channel and hire the fired Tech TV staff. ;)
*It's not what you can do for the Dark Side but what the Dark Side can do for you!*
Where will I get my fix of...
THUNDERBIRDS
(and why won't my interrobang display?)
Wow. When my t.v. is on, it's usually on tech tv. I live in Los Angeles... hopefully they'll want to give a budding young computer scientist an on air jorb...
That's Los Angeles, but they do stream (Realplayer, naturally.)
I dunno, it really seems the industry is neither served nor effectively critiqued yet in this medum. The "fun," informative shows weren't either and the "incisive" was a few weeks late and a shade dumbed down. I can't bear the thought of just, like, watching it. Did anyone here really do that?
Nevertheless, I'll feel a bit sad if it's gone. Well, just a tiny bit. It wasn't hurting anyone, after all.
grammar-lesson free since 1999. (rescinded - 2005)
As far as I'm concerned, the flagship show on TechTV was The Screen Savers. When the show had Leo, Martin, and Morgan still, it was the best show on television.
I understand the desire to move successful people to their own shows, but after Leo moved off of TSS and they were left with Patrick (who is so-so), and then Kevin Rose with his elitist attitude and his little girlfriend (can't even remember her name since she is so annoying) that knows jack nothing about computers, well, I can barely stand to watch the show.
Frankly, I don't really watch it more than once a week. I used to watch it daily. That is impressive simply because I don't watch TV. Last year I didn't watch television at all for six months, after that I only watched it to see international perspective of the War in Iraq.
As such, the only reason I have for cable is TechTV. If they kill it (which they already pretty much have) then I will get rid of my cable TV in a heartbeat. Comcast is insane.
Then again, I can hope that someone else will see the potential it had, and do a TSS style show the way it was meant to be done.
Leo, Martin, and Morgan all act like people I hang out with (I'm more in Morgan/Martin's age group, but I know people in Leo's age group that I talk with about technology all the time). Kevin Rose acts like someone I'd never speak with about anything in person. I don't know the guy personally or anything, but I really feel that TSS is ruined without Leo there, and that it was even better than that before they broke up the staff.
The question is: did Comcast kill TechTV, or with it's flagship show in tatters, was it already dead?
Hmm, I think we can see why at least one employee would be "let go"... Reading your coworkers' AIM conversations and talking about it on TV would probably do it (watch the video clip). Stumbling their Wifi access points might have something to do with it, too...
News.com Article
In LA.
Now, why would he do that? To spend every weekend on the road?
Or...... well, you can figure out the rest.
I'd bet good money there will be plenty of current shows and hosts back.
I tell you the truth. If Stargate gets canceled, I'm giving up on TV.
Next someone will be telling me that Slashdot doesn't really run news, or that they got bought by OSDN. I'd be downhill from there, for sure. Oh, wait...
Drop me a line at:
Key ID: 0x54D1D809
I wonder what will happen to the channel's availability on DirecTV once they complete the merger... Do you think Comcast will continue to make the channel available to one of their biggest competitors?
A lot of comments here seem to be bashing Comcast for getting rid of TechTV with various sinister reasons behind the show's demise, but I also a significant number of "haven't watched it in 5 months, if ever" type of comments too. Could it be that TechTV had really low ratings and wasn't cost-effective to keep going? Naa...
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Directv Takes Down HU Card
Millions of "testing" Nerds lose their sattelite service..
3 weeks later, Main Nerd Channel Gets Taken Down (possibly due to mass viewer fallout).
Wow
There were problems that existed with both networks. G4-TV's quality of programming was quite lack-luster. It's too gaming-centric. There's no way one could fill an entire day's programming with gaming. There's simply not enough out there to make it interesting. Tech-TV had -some- decent programming--the screen savers & call for help, although they were geared toward the lower end of the technologically minded were still half-way entertaining to watch. It's my belief that comcast is simply keeping the "highest rated" shows on Tech-TV and trashing the rest. This isn't going to be good. The Tech-TV shows will never be the same again without the same crew and management. They will go down hill to what G4-TV has become. Now as to what comcast should have done, is to take a couple of decent shows from G4-TV, thrown them on TechTv, and trashed the crap from TechTv. Who really wants to see Max headroom or that one show with those puppets?
My friend has the same opinion of /. and in some respects he's probably right - there always has to be a compromise somewhere between speed, quality, and catering to the lowest common denominator. In the end nobody gets quite what they want...
/. he realised I was using it. That's why I can say this with impugnity: Os, you code like a girl!
Incidentally, he doesn't read the comments anymore. He lost hope in
Now it's up to the slashdot readers to figure out if that's a compliment or an insult.
--
Still, does anyone think that Comcast is so stupid as to . .
Why, yes! I do think they're that stupid. Based on past experience with Comcast, this is exactly what I'd expect.
Next will come some half-assed attempt at reconstructing what they've just ruined, then further dumbing down and changes because it didn't work. Repeat for a few cycles with things getting worse at each step. Finally, they give up, close the shop completely, along with all the justifications.
Too bad.
And to think this was one of the best clips from them....
Just for fun, lets fire dozens of people today! It's a bright sunny day outside, let's ruin everyone's day! I know, let's all sing a song. Sing a song of destroyed careers! Let's all play a game! How long before you miss a car payment! Sell your house and move across the land so you can get an entry-level job after wasting all this time getting fired! Why, you can't even list it on your resume! WHO THE FUCK WANTS AN EMPLOYEE WHO JUST GOT FIRED???!?!?!?!
CongratuFUCKINGLATIONS you just won the STARVING UNIVERSITY GRADUATE LOTTERY!! A fabulous and exciting prize package is yours! You get eight months of budget-scrimping shit! You have to sell everything you own! You get to FLUSH IT ALL DOWN THE RUINED CREDIT TOILET!!
We'll have the whole fuckin' thing sold eventually. And here you thought you were doing what you were supposed to do. Oh, well. Back to the want-ads.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
CNET story is here: TechTV lays off San Francisco staff
If this happened a few months ago I would have been more mad. The network I think has gotten worse lately with some changes they have made. Leo leaving the Screen Savers, X-play being redone to what it is now and so forth. Screen Savers has just been not as interesting and fun as it used to be. Personally I don't blame Comcast for wanting to change things around. Maybe by cutting out and changing the many horrible G4 shows and merging them with some redone versions of tech tv's top shows something good could come from this.
I feel bad for the people who just have been told they have 60 days to get out but I'm not going to slash at Comcast until I see the end result.
That will teach them to run anything that is not based on MS. Send it to LA and then run off all the customers.
Leo Laporte irretated the living crap out of me. He never allowed anyone else to finish what they were saying and he would just talk over them. I vote him most irretating person on TV. I like Tech TV though and will miss Cat
DERR TURRK URR JERRRR! ....if you don't get it, you're not watching enough SouthPark :)
Why did they have to do this to Leo??? Leo Laporte is a national treasure. This sucks. If Comcast buys Adelphia I will NEVER re-up for cable. Ever. Dish Network for me, baby...
Michaela Pereira, you were really smart for bailing when you did.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Maybe we should start our own media delivery system. Using their expertise (and experience), we develop some for of newer protocol for 'television'. Why let comcast ruin something that could be great (I know whenever I had access to cable television I only watched tech tv (and I know my friend watches at least 1 of their gaming shows)). What if using current tech merged together would allow for a greater user experience. What if all they had to do was boot their computer off of a CDROM and it would allow them to have access to all the content of the new 'TechTV'...
Jon Bardin
Adam and X-Play are the only reason I really watch much anymore... I do like tech live from time to time.
If the channel quality degrades much, it might be the opportunity I needed to move to Voom - as the lack of TechTV was holding me back.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Anonymous Coward irritates the living crap out of me.
Er, what does the abbreviation "TV" mean? I am so sick and tired of stories being posted all over /.'s front page with abbreviations that they don't bother to explain. How hard is it to say, "TV, a new storage technology..."
The Ratings dept said that shows about people getting fired will be the Next Big Thing!
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I had a vision the show was bought out and this really fat guy from Noah's Arcade changing the format and Rob Lowe firing Wayn... hang on (*sound of bong bubbling*) ... where was I? ..... Oh yeah, getting something to eat.
Moving to LA? Feh. Thanks for ruining the only foothold San Francisco had in TV land, Comcast.
"UP NEXT: the link between breast implants and computer chips! We'll explain right after this."
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
And what of the old set do I miss most? The old fridge which doubled as a bookcase. Somehow the geekiest feature in the whole set.
Anyhow, I hope the whole executive staff responsible for these stupid decisions, as a group, fall down a stairwell. RIP TechTV.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
But what I expected. She was always a 4 at best, the nerds made her more than she was. After seeing her topless, she is most definately a 3.
I had G4 when it first came out. Hell, I got a cable box to watch it I was so excited. I can't even describe how many problems they had, from lack of programming, to robot hosts who obviously could give less than 2 shits about gaming, to just insanely pointless programming (That MMORPG show with the HAL9000 voice over). I mean, 8 hours of programming cycled a week. How many times can you watch the same bad show a week? Technically 21. Pathetic.
Want to merge G4 and TechTV? Fine. Kill G4 and take the maybe 2 hours of programming, fix it, and bring it to TechTV, the better channel.
Instead, they do the opposite. They kill the wrong channel and basically put the staff that makes TechTV in a position to not want to migrate.
Comcast should be brown-nosing Morgan Webb and Leo LaPorte like they have gold stuck up their asses. Leo is a pretty smart tech guy that is very personable, easy to understand, and loves his job (none of which are very common in the tech field lately).
Morgan has a rabid army of unsexed fanboys that would pay an extra 10 bucks a month just to see her for 10 minutes a week. Sad, but true.
Are we over-reacting? No.
Because the deal hasn't even went through and Comcast already did the exact opposite of what they SHOULD have done.
That thought techtv in general was boring and behind the times? I honestly feel like if you gave a shiznit any computer topic you would've have known about it ages before techtv covered it.
www.samuraidreams.com - My Blog
www.samuraifiles.com - Get Some Videos Here
Back when TechTV (Then ZDTV) first came on the air, I installed a C-band (the big 10 foot dishes) JUST to get ZDTV.
When Kate Botello left The ScreenSavers, I feel it went from being a interesting, yet geeky show (a show I HAD to watch - if I was out it was recorded) to a less interesting show. As ZDTV became TechTV, it became dumbed down to the point where I would only catch the show once a month, if that.
If only we could have the original days of ZDTV back, that would be great.
I'll bet we will be ready for more infomercials from microsoft on DRM. They will call it the whitehat channel.
All I can think of is..
WTF ?
It is exactly this sort of thing that bothers me regarding media acquisitions.
So if this is indeed true, to me it is both a suprise and yet not. I had a feeling that Comcast was buying their competition only to gut them. I've not seen the G4 channel, but from what I read, it's less than fabulous.
It's sad to think that the TechTV folks I know and love (especially the Screen Savers crew) are likely going to be out of a job. But for the moment, I'll give Comcast the benefit of a doubt.
At any rate, though, it is somewhat irresponsible to fire employees of a acquired company en masse even if it is to allow renegotiation of contracts and force them to move. These folks are, I would assume, settled very well in San Francisco (I know I would be) and forcing them to move to keep their job - under a new contract - is irresponsible.
On a side note, I can't help but wonder what would have become of Disney had Comcast's bid panned out.
Morgan Webb doesn't have a home after this...she can come live with me. :^)
You are not root, go away.
I agree with your general point. However, I think you're a little off on this particular part. Comcast hadn't been running TechTV. Comcast bought TechTV and then announced layoffs shortly after. Whether TechTV was doing well or not may not be the issue (although they did take quite a hit during the dot-bomb).
But otherwise... right now. This is no SCO-ism.
I had to sign up for a whole package of extra crappy channels to get TechTV on my cumcast cable. Tech TV is the only one I watch in the package. If this is a common situation, they will be firing some other people (from the crappy channels) as well. I will surely be dumping the whole package. Maybe even comcast cable entirely, and buy a free to air 3 foot dish and receiver. That's it cumcast lose the quality. We want more garbage.
"Suck my balls"
I think that we should organize a petition to keep whatever shows/actors we like. I personally think that "Invent this" and "Big Thinkers" were great shows that deserve a chance to live.
"If at first you don't succeed... So much for skydiving." - Henry Youngman.
I can't say I'll miss it. I tried watching TechTV on many occasions, but it was just a little too basic. Most of the shows were nothing more than product ads. I was hoping for something more accessible like scripting and programming. A little Perl, a little C, maybe some Bash and Emacs tips, throw in a little CMD and WScript, even some VB. But most of the shows seemed like a cross between the Home Shopping Network and a ...For Dummies book. I can't stand the Thunderbirds, so that didn't grab me. Besides, that's what Cartoon Network and SciFi are more suited to. The pseudo-scientific shows they had weren't much more than "look at how great these companies are at innovating"!. Not too useful. Now, if they would have run Cosmos (with updates), maybe the original UK version of Battlebots, Dr. Who and had some hardcore programming shows, it would have struck a chord a little more.
Un-news
A few of the anchors of Tech Live have gone on to CNN to work. Maybe CNN would hire some of the crew for their Hot Wired stuff. It's a long shot, but a CNNTech would be a nice spin-off.
Well look at from this point. Remember when Comcast big dawgs cooked the books. They must of felt that they have to cut costs and make more $$$. Liquidation is the main point here. Comcast felt that they should buy up TechTV and sell it off(Liquidation). Thus, cutting down the problems with the "other" business from personally killing off their crapy channel of G4. G4 is totally junk. TechTV provides information about computers and games. G4 just does games. I don't understand Comasts move here by getting rid of TechTV. They should of Liquidated G4. Next, G4 is not offered to everyone unlike TechTV. Most people I know have never heard of G4. Comcast should of at least kept the name.
This is a very bad business move by Comcast. A major overhaul of G4 will be needed for them to attain the same profit as TechTV.
This makes me want to cry. Seriously, I pay extra on my cable bill to get TechTV, I don't know what I'll do without it. This sucks. I hate Comcast.
Buckethead
Everybody got notices today that says at face value that 60 days from now their jobs won't exist. However, that doesn't promise that everybody's a goner...
See, the WARN act requires that when a downsizing of this scale is going to happen, the employer must give 60 days notice to everybody they're letting go. However, imagine the moral at an office where 2/3 of the people get the notice and the other 1/3 don't... fighting is sure to ensue during the two months before the cutback.
So, in reality... today's news doesn't really tell us what Comcast is planning. They very well could keep the shows alive, but send the jobs who don't affect the content (PR people, master control techs, salespeople, etc.) to LA.
The real answer will come exactly 60 days from now...
Now Kevin Rose can spend more time making more "The Broken" episodes. Which means more Ramsey!!
Everybody wins :D
I mean seriously - I'm glad my mail client has the option to supress the loading of remote images. I've had spam that makes my eyes burn :-(
Click... Click... Click... *ARRGGHH!* *thump*
I'm learning to love MimeDefang, as I no longer have to field complaints from embarrassed and irritated staff asking how the hell they make this stuff _go_ _away_.
Why isn't this right? I mean, I see your point in that it sucks for all involved, but lately I keep getting the general vibe that people think companies exist to provide jobs, when really jobs are investments needed to make money. Heck, jobs are a cost center. If the work being done isn't getting done with your investments you get rid of the investments that aren't returning. That's business, and heck that's life.
Hey we're all about switching from Windows to Linux right? For $180 XP doesn't do what I want it to do, Linux does it all, for free. Will we say that this massive job loss is bad if/when the Linux desktop revolution happens and Microsoft has to layoff a bunch of workers on the OS side?
Not that I think they'll listen, but some folks went to the trouble of setting these up (they are posted on Leo's board). Hey it worked for Star Trek and Family Guy right? =)
Petition 1
Petition 2
Petition 3
Also a direct link to the Comcast complaint bucket...
Comcast Feedback
I don't know... The thing that impressed me the most about Leo is he comes across as the "teacher" type of person. He presents things well, and almost always has a quick, informed response when questions are thrown at him. He may not be quite as "technical" as some people, but most "very technical" people aren't so skilled at communicating their knowledge so others can understand them (especially when they have a small time window to do it in).
I think Patrick does a good job too, and agree that he "belongs on the show". To be honest though, I'm not sure it's possible to please "the masses" with any type of computer-centric program. It's the same problem you have if you try to get women to sit down with you and enjoy some show about hot-rodding cars. The majority of them are going to complain and ask you to change channels.
I suspect the women (Morgan, Cat, etc.) were brought in to try to cancel some of this effect out. Sort of a "Hey, look - here are women who actually LIKE this stuff. See girls, you should give it a chance!" But that's shallow and people generally see right through it.
I don't exactly know how either G4 or TechTV were doing financially, but it seemed neither had a problem....I know that both are niche shows, but maybe someone will start a campaign to save them?
If anything, Arena is somewhat of a first as a major network show dedicated to competitive video gaming. I would think that AMD/Nvidia etcetera with it's current pro sponsorships would like to keep this alive.
I want my Starcade!
Good point, someone DOES need to mirror their content before their site is possibly killed off. There's a plethora of information that should never die off. I've still gone back to look for things on their Internet Tonight links.
Internet Tonight... wow... I miss ZDTV. =(
So does that mean we don't get to see LAURA SWISHER's big ass titties anymore?
I frickin' love her boobs!
Those things are HUGE.
C'mon, don't tell me you actually watch Unscrewed for Martin's interviewing skills...
LAURA BABY !!!!
( o ) ( o )
Burrrrrrrrned!
All I ever see on techtv is the screen savers show, which sucks. I mean this show REALLY sucks. I can't stand it. This isn't a loss. YAY for comcast.
any self respecting nerd should know that Morgan's b00bies have been archived for our pleasure.
I work (still) at TechTV, in the IT department. AFAIK, next to nothing from the website is being kept. I know that G4 posted a job for an Oracle DBA to transition our DB to their MS SQL. We contacted them on it and they took the job down (google cache: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:E3Q1eTpUtU0J:ww w.entertainmentcareers.net/jobid.asp%3Fjcode%3D229 34+G4+DBA&hl=en )
A PHB at G4 has his blog at http://hardwarewhore.com/ Classy, no? Not hard to see that they are going to leave a big, flaming divot in the ground.
This is entirely insane. G4's programming, in a word, _sucks_. I can only suppose this is because the TechTV shows are run by people who often say bad things about Comcast's corporate masters while they teach people about what computers can do.
Essentially forcing everyone to move to LA is rather unreasonable as well. San Francisco is where all the really cool computing stuff gets _done_.
Maybe they could replace Tech-TV channel with Barely 18 Channel?
I used to watch this show fanatically when it was just Kate and Leo, but as soon as Kate left it just wasn't the same. It seems like since then they've just paraded in a whole slew of different people and none of them ever really stuck with me. Sure, a lot of the new girls are cute, but few of them seem to have Kate's personality.
:)
As far as G4 goes, I don't see why so many people knock it. To me it has the same feeling TechTV used to have (when it was still ZDTV or whatever). For the most part, the hosts aren't just pretty puppets, but actual gamers and in some cases game industry insiders (the guys on Judgement Day). Also, it's nice to see what some games look like on an actual TV screen in motion instead of just as screen shots on the web. Lastly, Icons is a really great show. It's nice hearing about video game history from the people who lived it. Anyway, enough ranting, these rays aren't going to trace themselves
The shroud of darkness has fallen on what was once TechTV
Echostar is a partner with Comcast on G-4.
DirecTV is owned by Right-wing prick Rupert Murdoch.
Comcast is eying Adelphia, which owns my community's cable franchise.
Guess I'm sticking with rabbit ears.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
It's the sound of a thousand Windows Script Kiddies simultaneously committing suicide now that kevin has been handed his pink slip.;)
Robot Wars sucks, Fresh Gear is ok, but TechTV was a cool channel. At least they are keeping Anime Unleashed, X-Play and the screen savers.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
I like the link on the TechTV page that says "Hot Tech Jobs" link. I'm sure they'll all be visiting the same links soon.
Also wonder if they will soon be needing to place a Call For Help. *da-doom-chish!*
This whole sordid affair had a ring of the familiar to it, so I went looking for whatever it was that sparked my precognitive flash...
Plot Summary for Wayne's World (1992)
Wayne is still living at home. He has a world class collection of name tags from jobs he's tried, but he does have his own public access TV show. A local station decides to hire him and his sidekick, Garth, to do their show professionally and Wayne & Garth find that it is no longer the same . Wayne falls for a bass guitarist and uses his and Garth's Video contacts to help her career along, knowing that Ben Oliver, the sleazy advertising guy who is ruining their show will probably take her away from him if they fail.
Actually, Family Guy's revival was largely attributable to phenomenal DVD sales.
That never before have I read a /. story that had so many people upset, yet had so little meaning for me. OK, it sucks to be laid off, it just happened to me, and on that level the story is interesting and I can sympathize... but... some people are saying that TechTV is their favorite channel? That the Screen Savers is the best show on TV? That they will cancel their cable if there is no TTV?
Are these people nutz or have I somehow missed a revolution in geek programming? Cuz when I have seen TTV it has been the cure for insomnia. Yes, even the Screen Savers.
We the consumer exist to make companies money. Companies should exist to provide us jobs.
If they only exist to make money, well then lets say screw big business and each of us start our own business.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
>I'm sure it will be replaced with something highly mediocre.
Marketing: "Can't you see, we're in the middle of a paradigm shift, we're being proactive and pro-consumer! We've got to get more eyeballs on the screen. Imminetize the Eschaton!"
Customer: "Umm, what the hell does that mean?"
Marketing: "More religious programming and infomercials."
"...and then Kevin Rose with his elitist attitude..."
And
"That is impressive simply because I don't watch TV. Last year I didn't watch television at all for six months, after that I only watched it to see international perspective of the War in Iraq."
I love it when people claim to not watch TV save for some annoyingly elitist reason.
We should launch a protest site, put some heat on comcast. Mainly I don't care if they change the shows, I just want them to keep the cast. You cannot easily replace years of developed experienced talent like that. Really they all were very good at what they did. The problem was never the cast itself, the problem was always the content. People werent interested in seeing nerdy content 24/7, too much Robot Wars, not enough shows like Unscrewed or X-Play, Anime Unleashed was good, but you see these shows while they were great are only great due to the people involved. I think its a huge mistake to fire everyone. They could at least keep the hosts to the shows and use them as co-hosts to help with the transition. What? They think people who were fans of TechTV are going to watch G4? Think again. G4 is now dead along with TechTV.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
Changing the content is one thing, but when you fire the entire crew you just destroyed what you purchased.
So why the hell did they purchase TechTV? Just to destroy the competition? TechTV was all about its hosts, the content was not so impressive but the people were experienced and the hosts knew what they were doing.
Now this is gone, so they just wasted 300 million dollars purchasing something only to fire all the key people who made it worth purchasing in the first place.
Sounds like a Microsoft chess move.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
"Where were you, when they fired the TechTV staff? Did it make you wanna cry, or did you think it was kinda gay?"
*****
Dear Mary,
I yearn for you tragically,
A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
Merging TechTV into G4 assumes all geeks are gamers. For me, TechTv was ScreenSavers, Tech Live and Call for Help and afew other non-gaming shows.
Perhaps it's just harder to find the demographics for geeks vs gamers, and thus made it easier at the boardroom to pitch a gaming show vs a tech show, but it seems to me that the silent majority has once again been shafted.
I would like to be proven wrong (with stats) that the tech crowd was a larger pool than the pure gamers; it'd give meaning to this madness.
It's incredible that TechTV looses to G4. G4 has the lamest content I've ever seen, a bunch of loosers playing video games. Not reviewing, just PLAYING. Who wants to watch other people playing video games??? How lame is that. It's worse than QVC, worse than infomercials. Charles Hirschhorn (the G4 CEO) sure snookered Brian Roberts (the COMCAST CEO) good.
"I love it when people claim to not watch TV save for some annoyingly elitist reason."
Where did I give a reason for not watching TV? All I said was that I didn't watch it at all for half a year, and started watching again for the news.
Since you seem so concerned, it wasn't for "elitist" reasons. I was working 70+ hour weeks in IT and was spending the rest of the time with my girlfriend or keeping my house clean and the lawn mowed, etc.
Perhaps I should of added, "Since I had time for news again, I decided I had time for watching TechTV again, too."
Don't you have anything better to do than critique what people you don't know are doing with their time?
Comcast should realise that some international viewers might get pissed.
Notice where it says '70 countries' on the Foxtel page. Hmm.. Comcast, it's not only your customers that will be pissed. Oh, while your on the first page (NCable), feel free to sympathise with the fact that bandwidth is so darn expensive down here (Australia) when 1) You need it outside a captial city 2) The 'Big 4' will make it hard for you.
It isn't just G4 has an even smaller niche audience, it's that G4 has an even smaller niche audience which hates it. I spend time looking at video game news/discussion sites, and G4 seems to be universally reviled as pointless, artificial and just plain stupid among the exact people who appear to be their target audience.
Obviously what I've seen isn't fully representative of the video game "fan" audience, but the thing is that G4 viewers aren't just a minority of the people I've seen-- they've been totally nonexistent. The most positive thing I've seen said about G4 ever is one person on a message board once who said they liked G4 because it made good "background noise". This as opposed to TechTV, which seems to have a relatively large, diverse, and visible favorable following.
As a non-cable subscriber, I cannot comment myself on the quality of either channel, since instead of watching television I just play video games and read Slashdot.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
I'll be sure to mention that to them as I downgrade
:)
:P
Yes, I'm sure the miserable, horribly underpaid, probably doesnt work for comcast directly, wish they had a better job, customer support rep will really take it to heart.
Not that I disagree with what you're saying, but if you knew what it was like to work in a call center...
Joseph?
Do you fucking know what "rubric" means? I didn't think so!
Satellite Dish
Comcast is a sanctioned monopoly here in Baltimore. I finally got completely fed up a few years ago after the tried to (in my opinion) scam me twice in two months, First, they tried slamming tactics to get me to sign up for cable moden (the typical one where the salesperson says one thing and the recording you say 'yes' to says another). The next time someone called and the first thing they said was, "Do you have a computer ?" My wife being the savy character that she is asked, "Who the hell are you and why are you asking me about the contents of my home!" She told the idiot telemarketer from Comcast that it was an inappropriate question and the sucker hung up on her (bad mistake). One complaint to the FCC, and a letter to the local Comcast PHBs copied to our county rep later, and they agreed to never call us again (on paper).
I signed up for DirectTV, then, rather than spend an hour on hold just to wait between '8am and 4pm' for a tech one day, I climbed the side of my house and with a pair of side cutters, and cut the cord (literally and figuratively) with the Evil Empire that is Comcast.
Questionable sales techniques, monopoly deals that overide local govt. (they are fed regulated BTW), higher prices, horrible customer service, receive-only "Internet connections", policies that are anti-customer and dare I say, anti-American ! - why would anyone give these rats a red cent ! At least if they bought Disney I could have focused my distain on one entity for a while
I can only hope we see the return of TechTV on DirectTV one day... Access provider monopolies mixed with content giants is a recipe for disaster.
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech."--Benjamin Franklin
Half the time it felt like a Geeks Annonymous meeting, the other half felt like an infomercial for new technology I had no chance of being able to afford in the next few years. I hope they realize a good part of their audience is in college and treat it accordingly.
My 2 cents...
-B
Foxtel Australia has just brought out it's new "digital" service. This includes a TechTV channel (although the programmes are a few days late compared to the US of A) and I have just started to really like the personalities on that channel.
It has taken all my time away.
Even though the tips and what not on there are things any person reasonable on a computer would already know, there are some great people on there.
To put these guys out of a job is horrendous, there are a lot of people who only watch the channel for the people on there.
What are they going to do now?
THANK GOD!
Good luck getting another job PATRICK now that you've made your name and the word idiot synonymous.
"Hi I'm Patrick Norton"
"Its says here on your resume that you hosted The Screensavers."
"Yes. The ScreenSavers was a show on TechTv"
"So your that idiot. NEXT!"
A company's top priority should be, as should an individuals, to provide maximum benifit to society, although I would accept a paradigm in which the first priority is survival, and providing benifit to society was second. The mindset that self-intrest comes before world intrest not only meets my definition of evil, but also IS my definition of evil. I realize that other people have different definitons, but looking at this from my viewpoint I think it is quite easy to see why "this isn't right".
Little Brother, watching the watchers
hope this gives the women of techtv to do some porn, possible titles:
1. big knockers
2. call for sex
3. the buttsavers
4. seX-play
5. Fresh Gear (still a good porno name)
6. wired for sex (was pretty good on itself)
7. sex live
8. the sex of...
9. body shots
Tech TV was about the same as /. in a lot of regards to technology.
You have Leo Laporte - about the only bearable personality and pretty much the lone Mac/Linux/P2P advocate in every situation
You have Patrick (Screensaver) - this guy was anti everything - and honestly contributes little to any show - his interview skills were only good if he had them decently written on a notecard
Morgan Webb - I never saw what Xplay itself claimed - that she was a goddess that got tons of fanmail - she looks kind of mongoloid - has a great body though
Cat Schwartz - this chick is the female version of Patrick and after seeing her Howard Stern interview only confirmed she is a real bitch in everyday life - she also was a bandwagoner - what ever was cool - she wanted it it or had it
Then there was the couple that liked each other on the screensavers. Sarah Lane was genuinely funny and Kevin Rose was genuinely knowledgeable - although a Mac hater in most regards
Originally you had the gay announcer that I think still produced and directed - I was personally aware of his live coverage of MacWorld Expo 2001 and that it WAS DEMANDED by Apple that he was fired
Then you have Fresh Gear - what happed to Sumi Daas? She was awesome - had a true platform agnostic computer bias and was actually pretty good in her reviews. She was replaced by a girl with an annorexia problem and a guy that does infomercials (really, Chris Leary does several)
Chris Parillo (former host of Call For Help) was the most annoying geek to ever be on TV and just about every show would say how much he hated the Mac platform and Linux. Although he was very knowledgeable
I'd also like to point out that the former owners were a company owned by Paul Allen. When the show Microsoft Insider popped up I knew it was a downward spiral. This wasn't a show, it was a pro Microsoft Windows propoganda. (An infomercial without the warnings)
I thought Invent This was the best show I have seen on TV in a while and I hope it either stays or finds The Discovery Channel.
I also liked Eye Drops (computer animation showcase) - yet I never understood why they didn't do more episodes after it won an emmy.
I really liked Megan Morrone and the girl that moved on to CNN - they both were knowledgeable and palettable.
I got tired of Leo constantly promoting himself like a God. I think all of this will be a good change. If the "cast" is good enough, they will find other work.
Everyone except Adam Sessler (Xplay) - that guy is honestly retarded.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
ok, really. am i the only one that thinks she's nasty as hell? have you seen that picture of her in a bikini top on her website? she's got a thick body with boobs the size of a scrawny 8-year-old boy. mmm, yeah, attractive.
I'm not much for government interference in the market place, but the WARN Act certainly seems to be a good thing to me. Had it not been for that legislation, these guys very likely would not have found out about being fired until they came to work one morning and found their door code didn't work any longer.
I was involved in a large company that scanned and converted military documents into a SGML format. Had it not been for the WARN Act, I'm sure those SOBs would have never told us a word about them going under...until the day it happened. And I really think it pained them to have to tell us. Not because they felt sorry for us, but that they didn't want anyone to know until our freaking door codes no longer worked!
Usurper_ii
Ron Paul
So what does this have to do with TechTV? Someone with cash could start up a new TechTV style network, have "masters" classes (along with the normal stuff) to teach advanced subjects for advanced users like photoshop, networking, GIMP, etc. and sell the series on DVDs (through themselves and/or retailers like amazon. They could also build a web site that has less flash, more useful information and allow users to interact in a more useful way.
IMO DVDs could be a nice dependable revenue stream for a new network.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
And in the worst twist of fate this crappy cable "service" is the only cable that we can get at our new apartment. We currently have RCN who just basically rocks and spoils us. 5 megabit down and 800 kb up and lots of tv and phone service all at a reasonable price. After we move we will be paying more for less. Thankfully we can have Earthlink use comcast to give us internet... yay.
this is the most important sig ever! In your face 446154!
every time I saw tech tv they were discusing somthing that I read on slashdot a week ago.
it is sad to hear people lose there jobs too.
This also gets TechTV OFF of DirecTV. How better to get people from your competition than to take away their channels and put them on a channel that they can't get!
Been what? almost 2 years and STILL no Anime Network on DirecTV, what makes anyone think that G4 will show up anytime soon?
Well, double checking.. it will be on Dish Network.. so, I can watch it when I go to visit back home 2 or 3 times a year.
The question for me is: Since it now belongs to Comcast, will we still get to watch it on DirecTV? Or will they pull the same BS they do with Philly sports and lock us out because we don't subscribe to their miserable overpriced cable empire? (I just thank the Gods that they decided to drop the offer for Disney, or we would probably have lost ESPN, ABC, etc, as well)
TechTV is one of the reasons I switched from Comcast to DirecTV...
aka: Grab everything that isn't nailed down. I remember seeing some recently closed dotbomb offices where the last employees took almost everything that wasn't nailed down. Someone once took some bathroom fixtures. It's not like it has any real resale value or CC plans on using it. Think of it as this year's christmas bonus.
...Anyone who has been watching faithfully knows that things started going down hill when Kate Botello left! ;-)
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
What will happen to all of the Paid Programming? TechTV's is the best! :-)
Did the brainiacs stop to think that this is not a problem if, by their show lineup, they've defined themselves as a NEWS oriented channel?
What maroons!
While most of you have heard about our recent decision to let to the entire TechTV staff, we'd like to reassure you that we've got some quality programming coming. Some of our new lineups include:
Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman 2021
Saturday Night Tech Live
WiFi Fantasy Island
Beverly Hills 802.11b
For what it's worth I emailed G4 to tell them what total smeg heads they are. I would have emailed Comcast, but I couldn't find any contact information. TechTV is most of the reason I have cable (well satellite).
"Hi, this is Leo Laporte... normally on this show, you guys calls us for help. Well, today we're going to change the format a little. We just learned that we've all been fired and we need jobs, so for today's segment (and the next 60 days), we're going to be calling YOU for help!"
I found a picture of the new TechTV staff
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
..They Killed Leo!!! ...You Bastards!!!
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
What about a Leo/Kevin/Patrick photoshoot? I'm sure that would get a LOT more attention!
I was tempted to try their cable modem out in spite of the incredibly high price due to the close proximaty of the appartments to my house. Just imagine what one could do with the Knoppix-STD cd. Why buy a hard drive when you can use someone elses?
Seriously, I stopped watching TechTV because I couldn't afford the top 100 on Dish anymore. I downgraded to the top 50 plus local channels and away went TechTV.
I think the dark tips were probably the most educational. Knowledge is power and just like any tool, it can be used for good or bad. It's not like he was teaching people how to write worms or viruses. That is the number one problem today.
Ops, I shuld have usd the prevuwe but in.
Does TV yet offer anything above and beyond what can be gotten quicker, fuller, and more readily via the Internet? Raise your hand if you've turned on TechTV to see if they pick up on a story you first read on /.
Guess this means I dont need digital cable anymore :-)
Of course it's right! You expect to keep employing people to do stuff that doesn't earn them money? Then how are they going to keep paying the employees? If they can't deliver any profit, how are they going to raise capital to exapnd (and thereby employ more people)?
The thing that employs people and raises standards of living is that people will do anything to earn profit -- and if consumers demand a product, a corporation will supply it to get the buck. And they need employees to make the product, etc.
Or should we go communist? I don't see any communist economies producing enough food for their people, let alone thriving.
As long as Morgan Webb on X-Play still doesn't have to wear a bra, I hope they bring her back. C'mon... you all were thinking the SAME THING! :)
I can't count how many times his sense of humor has crossed the line into absurdly Pythonishique territory. It would be a real shame to lose this guy because not only is he funny as hell, his reviews are some of the most trusted i've ever seen. Nearly every game he's reviewed has been dead on with my thoughts. Morgan on the other hand is pretty monotone, and her reviews are not nearly as engaging as Adams. And she has zero humor. We all know what she does have though, and I think we can all agree she needs to pay up for us clicking those links over and over to get her naked in Playboy.
- it's totally off-base. The TechTV producers do decide which of the questions they are going to air, but the callers are real people not paid actors. Given the quantitiy of calls, faxes and e-mails they receive they have no problem with the "interesting in concept and solution" which you feel is only possible in a scripted setting.
Of course real life computer problems are so much duller and uneventful. Go back to your kiddy cartoons which ARE scripted for your apparent level of intelligence.
Some additional information:
LA == Lucknow, Avadh, India...
Sorry about any confusion. Nothing to see here, please move along and continue your offshoring/outsourcing, nothing to see here...
Was that of Marc Levenson. Most of the staff had very amateurish screen personnas (with the exception of Leo and maybe Chris), but Marc was a pretty high-caliber journalist. I was very surprised when he popped up on TechTV.
From his bio:
Marc joined TechTV in December 2001, the pinnacle of a 30-year career that includes science reporting stints at CNN, CBS, and New Jersey Public Television. Marc has earned three Emmy Awards, a Cine Golden Eagle, and a reputation for making science and technology entertaining, captivating, and easy to understand.
Among his credits are a groundbreaking inteview with the late Andrei Sakharov for an hour-long documentary on nuclear fusion, and coverage of one of the nation's first robotic heart surgeries.
Somebody mentioned on Leo's board, and this may be true, that the purpose for firing everyone was to kill all of the current contracts and start fresh, meaning that everyone was welcome to reapply for their jobs and renegotiate their compensation. Could be good for a few (like Marc and Leo), but probably a pay cut for most.
Maybe they were fired because Comcast thinks they can rehire them and pay them less? It's happened before.
As to your second question, I'm not really sure what you are asking, but I'll try to respond anyway - just because it's easy to vandalize our articles doesn't make it any less wrong to do it. To make an analogy - let's say you put your coat down on a chair and go to the bathroom, and while you are away someone steals it. Even though you made it easy for them, is it any less wrong for them to have stolen it?
I've heard this argument from wiki-heads before, and it's as much fluff now as it was then. But the more common analogy I hear is just because I don't lock my front door and leave it wide open doesn't make it okay for someone to come in and trash my place.
Both the locking and coat on a chair analogies are valid and, in fact, true. But at the same time, if you come up to me and tell me that you left your door wide open and your place got trashed, I'd say "well, next time you won't be so freakin' stupid, will you?"
Yes, it's wrong for somebody to do. But it's also the case that you deserve some of the blame for being so stupid as to not account for human nature. You can expect people to all be good and nice and so forth, but if you honestly think that is in fact true, then you are naive, gullible, and more than a little bit stupid. And no, I don't feel any pity for stupid people. Stop being so stupid and then I'll agree with you that people suck for doing the things they do.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Look these guys had a real opportunity to produce something of substance. Instead, made campy programs of little to no technical value. Hopefully, Comcast can turn things around as I still believe there are some really good programming ideas that could be established. There are just so many areas of technology to be covered. For instance, a one hour computer history program which would air weekly feature retrospectives on computer history.
They've killed the best channel on TV. I certainly won't do business with them now because of this. Any geek worth his salt that happens to have comcast cable needs to call TODAY and cancel their service (BTW: I have Voom now, and it's worth switching to if you have an HDTV).
Keep Austin Weird!
Thank goodness that weenie is getting booted. My God, there's a reason they don't usually stick a dude and his girlfriend on the same show... don't they know relationships make geeks uncomfortable?
Combine that with the "I'm a haxor and so much cooler than you even though I don't know much of anything" attitude and you got a real tool on TV show. I'm telling you, he was the -1 Troll of TV land. I can't believe Sarah, who seems to have an ounce of coolness is going out with this putz.
Leo, Patrick, Morgan, Adam, Cat, hell even that british dude that hosts the retarded 'bot wrestling' show... ya'll will be missed. Kevin... you will not.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
Though I didn't see the original segment, I am most definitely sure that TechTV is not responsible for the ongoing "vandalism" of Wikipedia. If you are going to fault them for anything, it's that they probably gave Wikipedia more notariety, and with notariety comes the punks who abuse the system.
Come on, it's not like the punks wouldn't have figured that out on their own.
I agree with your general point. However, I think you're a little off on this particular part. Comcast hadn't been running TechTV. Comcast bought TechTV and then announced layoffs shortly after. Whether TechTV was doing well or not may not be the issue (although they did take quite a hit during the dot-bomb).
See but the funny thing is about 2 years ago comcast dropped tech tv from it's lineup in many areas (I was in one of them). I have a friend who works as QA for the complaint lines from comcast and she said they used to get complaints constantly about comcast dropping tech tv. So, fast foward 2 years, and comcast buys techTV (Probably at a lower price since it had less viewers) then fires everyone.
I have to say, Tech TV when it first came on the air was great. Big Thinkers (Interviews with tech guru's) was a fun show, and silicon spin (talk show) was fun because you got to see CEO's and CTO's squirm. Screensavers and Call for help were ok. It seemed the longer TechTV was on the air, the further they got away from truely technical stuff and moved to being a "helpdesk/geek" network.
G4 and Tech TV could be a nice merging because together they might have enough orginal programming to actually have a network without re-runs.
On a more personal note, it's rare that I get so pissed off with a company that I don't want to use their products anymore, but comcast is so piss poor when it comes to service (yes, I bitch to my friend all the time about this) that I'm thinking of switching to directTV and DSL. If comcast owns G4, does that mean you don't get it on DirectTV? Or is that a law that the monopoly comcast actually has to follow?
no not in that sense... but I haven't actually been able to watch the beloved TechTV for about two years now, back when it was Leo and Kate Botello as The Screen Savers (I still have aspirations to marry Kate... she just doesn't know it {insert restraining order here}... I LOVE YOU!!! :)
Who here still remembers the "Fresh Gear" dance?
-cjh
not if they start putting this in their robots.txt file:
Comcast would never do that. .......would they?
/ continues downloading the entire TechTV website......
I like microcars
Lets see. Do an unbelievable job creating informative and original programming. Reach a very large cross-section of the viewing public. Bring cutting edge technology to a down-to-earth and simple feel. And then fire the staff that creates and supports the product that has thrived for so long. I hope for all of the people that have had their livelihood taken away do get the opportunity to take the same or similiar position with a move to Los Angeles without too much pain and suffering. Lets all hear it for the Comcast approach of taking care of your employees!!!! Go Time Warner
First, as to "everyone" - I'm talking about people who are interested in a given article.
In the meantime, as far as spam - it's done... a lot. IMHO, spammers probably get the roughest treatment of all. From the technical side, about 4 months ago, someone used a bot to load up TONS of spam. However, for admins, reverting is a *VERY* quick process - we can load up someone's contributions and revert with one click. Anyone using a bot like that would be blocked quickly by an admin and his/her contributions would be undone very quickly.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
Wil did warn you that G4 sucked.
So now, they dicked a whole bunch of other nice people. Is this a news flash?
Maybe you'll get a show of your own, now.
Thats it im pissed i say we create some sites boycotting this, and get payback if they do
...what is this G4 everyone is comparing TechTV to?
As a Canadian, I have only seen clips of TechTV (and know some of the hosts are Cannuks), but I though G4 was a processor from Apple...
A little help here...
Never by hatred has hatred been appeased, only by kindness - the Buddha
I would do it on behalf of comcast! for free!
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
E3 is a week away and they pull this. I was anticipating to follow Tech TVs coverage of the event. I hope this doesn't mean that they won't be covering it.
Go Gusties
Maybe it was that some of their shows were perceived (by Comcast) to have a "lazie-faire" attitude about DRM that helped the decision along? You know, shows about modding X-Boxes, copying DVDs and the like?
What little I've seen of G4 seems to be nice safe "shootouts" between consoles and games, and "sneak previews" of game titles available at a retail store near you. Not Mame or XBMC...
I must admit it! I have a thing for Kevin Rose. Maybe Comcast can feature him in some adult programming?
Best Buy can have you arrested
Well I am never going back to comcast now.
I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!
Mike
Did anyone see the man breaking the Edison phonograph tube on TechTv? I saw it while flipping through on MaxX or some other shitty blooper show.
Atlas Shrugged : Thematic Story
I just went to TechTV, Vulcan and Charter (Charter owns TechTV not Comcast unless I missed an acquisition and so did their PR people) websites and there is NO mention of this.
I call shaninigans!
i spit coffee all over my keyboard laughing while reading your sig! now i gotta clean up this mess.
The Solviet Union failed, not because of communist idiology, but because of inept implimentation thereof. What those loons were thinking is beyond me. I would say Lennin was the worst thing ever to happen to Communism, but that's really understating Stalin. The Russian Communist Revolution was a travesty, and the actions of their government were atrotious. I do not argue these points. China and Cuba have some human rights violations to speak for (as does the US, especialy overseas). I don't support pure communist theory, however I think the view selfsishness as a virtue is perhaps the most evil thing to come out of the modern era.
As for your statement and if consumers demand a product, a corporation will supply it to get the buck. You obviously miss the major developments in the modern economy over earlt industrial culture. In the modern economy, the coorperations, through advertising, tie-ins and product placement thoughout the ubiquitious media drive the desire for goods. The public doesn't demand and the companies supply. The companies supply, then create the demand. I agree that capatilism is the fastest way to grow a manufacturing infrastructure (as would Marx) but we have gotten to the point where the greeds of the few outweigh the needs of the many. This is wrong.
I do not, at this time, support a fully communistic system. The time is not ripe, nor may it ever be, for the abolishment of the idea of Property. However, I would like to see the workers of the companies own the majority of the stocks. I would like to see this happen accross diverse industries, so that the worker's intrests would be put above the intrests of the few investors who do not contribute to sociaty but reap the most rewards. When companies based on worker's intrests start to come together and cooperate, we will have a system that puts everybody's intrests first, then we will see the elimination of our fiasco of a health care system. Then we will be able to see a way out of our reliance on oil, and the wars we are willing to undertake to aquire it. Then we will be able to see an end to the starving: where there is ample food supply. Then we will be able to see the end of deaths from easily immunized diseases. Then we will be able to see the end of the hardest working citizens making the least money. Then e will be able to see the end of the family that never has a chance to be together, because they have to overlap work schedules to make ends meet. Then we will be able to see the end of slums that breed crime like a dead corpse breeds maggots. Then we will be able to see the end of children unable to get an education, not because they are unable, or disintrested, but because their parents don't make enough money to send them to a good school, or even live in an area with a good public school system. Then we will be able to see the end of media wherein more time is spent advertising than presenting content.
Then, and only then, the world will be safe for Democracy.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
I still don't understand why anything related to TechTV is considered news. There is nothing remotely technical about their info. It's the same dumb stuff the "cyberguy" on the local news talks about, with the exact same shallow level of understanding.
Why does anyone who is actually in the I.T. business give a crap about this? It's not like someone burned Infoworld's HQ down!
These are just internet leeches pretending to have expertise. Let them go out and find a real job.
The takeover of the media by NEOCONS continues.
No, really. What is the point of TechTV channel? To educate masses? Masses watch other channels. To provide tech support? Perhaps, but whole TV channel to help one person at a time? To give Tech News? People who are tech savvy get their news online, others are happy with technology inserts in their favourite tv channel. So I think the best way to deal with it is to convert TechTV to On Demand. If someone wants to watch it they would still can. And no 10x a day repeats. Hooray!
Hyperom.com
I really liked TechTV...
I agree, the love of money is the root of all evil. I guess I should make a distinction. My viewpoint is not that companies should exist for the bottom line although some do. Companies come from either servicing a need in society or from someone who is passionate about their given trade. Usually both. Usually it starts small addressing the needs, but as the demand increases the original team may not be able to support it... They create jobs and hire more people. When the need/demand subsides if they were to keep all those people as a service to society it is very likely that *everyone* will lose their job as the company goes under. Thus it is better for society to sack the the few than have every lose their job because you wouldn't.
I have never once me a person who started a business to create jobs.
Now if we are talking about a VP who knowingly cuts 20 jobs and expects everyone to pick up the slack by working nights and weekends only so his paycheck looks nicer that's seriously whack, and I'm not so sure those companies stick around. Somewhere somebody has to be passionate about what they do (besides just making lots and lots of money), else the company has no vision.
The best VPs I've worked under were visionaries who cared about people as well as getting to the destination.
But now I degress...
I thin kthe entire TechTV show line-up wqs great. There's almost always something of interest to me, be it Screen Savers, Fresh Gear, or even Invent This.
Leo leaving ScreenSavers was probably the first red flag. He has so much personality compared to everyone else on that show... it made no sense him leaving. Perhaps he knows the merger will kill the channel. His show Call fo Help isn't planned to be retained. Will he return to SS? He should.
Doubt theres any chance we can all pitch in and buy shares of the station to save it from the evil comcast organization just like in UHF is there?
they are/were morons. who gives a fuck. unemployment line form to the left.
/. for their ideas, jimmy kimmel (or writers) is also reading ./ . 2-3 days after the tron (tron suite) guy posting, jimmy kimmel had him on the show. america, and the tv industry are sucking right about now. from those in the know it is very obvious....
if this is what "techies" are then we a screwed. they are dumb, foolish, kiddies in the computer world. (even if they are older than me 28)
too bad they comsuck (comcast) did not beat them with a clue stick. they read
Sadly, most layoffs seem to happen not because the companies can no longer afford to pay them, but because the companies can now afford NOT to pay them. Employess are seen as expence, something to eliminate whenever possible. There are those who care, and they probably do very well in the small to middle-sized buisnesses. But the multi-million dollar conglomerate CEO's are not that kind of person.
Little Brother, watching the watchers
Here.
I was considering dumping Comcast cable TV in favor of DirectTV. The quality of cable here is TERRIBLE and I really was longing for a new provider.
When I heard that one of the few channels I watch late at night was being bought by Comcast I figured that the channel might somehow disappear from DirectTV and be only available to Comcast and friends of Comcast. This possibility made swicthing to DirectTV a little less attractive to me.
Now that Comcast is essentially destroying TechTV, there is nothing left for me to even have doubts about. I am free to move away from Comcast cable TV. THANK YOU Comcast!!
As an employee of Comcast, lately they have been forcing us to learn the words "That was then. This is Comcast" Basically meaning that the big bad cable company will listen to what its customers want, and give them exactly that. And will stop doing dumb, and unfriendly things.
I guess the exec that closed TechTV didnt get this memo
TechTV was a pretty honest network overall. They had no reservations about talking about products that sucked; they showed when their computers would crash and not pretend that everything was perfect. I suspect any new incarnation of the network will be yet another bland, sponsor-directed hour long lovefest. This is reason # 23,876 why Comcast needs to be boycotted.
You people are fools.. This is for your bosses.. You bought a perfectly well working tech information channel and now your ripping it up for G4?, an insipid no viewer channel whose content appeals to .1% of the population. Tech TV had some class and wide appeal among "Computer" not just gaming users. Comcast has none and zero foresight and vision. No wonder Disney kicked your ass out the door! You couldn't turn lemons into lemonade but you sure do the koolaid thing real well.
This might be a good time to read up on why Wil Wheaton quit hosting "Arena" on G4, the same G4 that is now merging with TechTV.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking
The headline claims jobs are availble in LA....well I live there and wouldn't mind working. I don't see any listings on their sites though....
True enough. But it doesn't help if one communicates inacuracies well. Having said that, I noticed Leo and Patrick had an interesting strategy. During calls, if neither had an answer, Leo would keep everyone busy with banter while Patrick would frantically search.
Actually - my girls are fairly tech-oriented. Though, not nearly as much as I am. The complaints were less about TSS and more about the personalities. Now days, I don't hear any grumbling unless Kevin is busy doing his dark hax0r schtick. Both individuals get (got?) jeers of "poser".
From what I've been reading in the TV trades, networks that completely "rebrand" or change their content focus might actually be dropped from some systems because of it. AMC and GSN have run into these issues. Often contracts with providers give them an out if a channel all the sudden changes who they are. If this were to happen to G4/TechTV, then the whole point of buying the TechTV for the distribution might not be that bright.
The real reason Comcast bought TechTV is so they can control the flow of technical information.
Comcast along with Cisco/Linksys and CableLabs plan to SNOOP on YOUR HOME NETWORK!
"I have a router and NAT." NO PROBLEM. ATT is working on fixing that bothersome little problem.
And if your using their new extreme tier with that fancy new Cisco/Linksys WCG2000 router/modem/SNOOPER no problem. CableHome aka SpyHome will allow them to:
CableHome 1.0 support for the ability to deliver secure, managed services from Comcast's head-end network to the subscribers' home network
TRANSLATION:
The goals for the CableHome Management Portal include:
* Enable viewing of LAN IP Device information obtained via the CableHome DHCP Portal (CDP)
* Enable viewing of the results of LAN IP Device performance monitoring done by the CableHome Test Portal (CTP)
* Provide the capability to disable LAN segments
You can read more here.
So TechTV had to go! Too much info in the wrong hands!
1311393600 - Back to Black
An online petion was started dont know how effective it will be but anyways.
n ed.cgi? tech001
Can sign petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/sig
I just got off work, came home, did the "chores", and flicked on tvtime, and caught the last 5 minutes of call for help. As the credit rolled by, Leo threw a nice little dig in, "Look at the names to the left [Note: They were technically on his left, but...], these are the people who make Call for Help possible, we could'nt do this without them...".
I find it abherrent that a company would clean house wholesale of talent when its doing well, and even when its doing poorly for that matter. I can't imagine the cost savings in moving production a hundred miles away can make up for hiring, firing, and moving costs.
Foo's (Dan's) final d-d-d-dance?
Hostile takeover.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
New site up over at www.BoycottComcast.com This isn't an ad.. but check it out if you care what happened to these people!
Upon re-reading my post I agree that it came across a bit more prickish than I intended.
It was the part about only watching TV for the foreign coverage that set me off. Though if I give it more than a knee-jerk amount of thought I agree that the local coverage of Iraq stinks.
I dont see anyone remembering Microsoft's massive investment in Comcast. We cant have any PRO-LINUX media types spewing free speech about the advantages of non-Microsoft products. 1. You cant kill an idea. (OpenSource Linux) Proprietary API's arent working. Litigation isnt working. 2. Invest in Media Outlets Control the public's information input. 3. Ties neatly into all Media distribution, read the news about Comcast's plan to control your LAN. 4. They will control your ability to learn about opposing software and soon even the ability to obtain it. Throw media into that as well. Here's a link about the investment of 1 BILLION dollars.
"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts", Earl Weaver - Legendary Coach of the Baltimore Orioles
why in Gods name would they do a STUPID thing like that. It makes no sense what so ever! I watched Leo and the gang when they first started
my husband and I watched the show religiously.they are like part of the family to us.
Comcast is creating a suicide for themselves.
honestly, I think Leo and crew could make another show, they surely got enough fans I know if they did.. we would surely watch.. and so would alot of other people
No but see that's the best part. TechTV was finally close to being in the black. So the smartest business move for Comcast would have been to close G4, merge a few shows into TechTV and keep TechTV going. But G4 ran this sale not Comcast, so G4 made sure that Comcast only saw the old numbers when TechTV was still in the red. Brilliant business move by G4, ignorant move for Comcast.
http://www.techtv.com/unscrewed/
Sure looks like a good reason to rip it off the air..
Just say no to license servers!!
I hope all the people responsible for this ROT!
I really enjoyed TechTV especially The Screen Savers. I watched for years and I'm very sad to see it go. Anyone who did not see TSS in it's "Glory Days" really missed out.
I wish all those Comcast bastards a slow painful demise.
The greatest hindrance to success is a well-rationalized excuse