Slashdot Mirror
TechTV.com RIP
SlashdotOgre writes "It has finally happened, www.techtv.com is no more. This was
somewhat expected after Comcast decided to give the
ax. This is a bit of a shame; as many users know, the
site was an excellent resource for both product reviews and
software. Most noteably, the Call for Help section has
disappeared and The Screen Savers only has recent episodes in the Episode
History section. If Comcast does own the rights to older
material, I do hope they decide to post some of it (but I doubt that
will be enough to ge me to watch their "new" network)."
It had the ugliest sets, hosts that were more or less inept, and the same boring content played over and over. TechTV always had new content, their sets were professional and made you actually want to watch (as opposed to giving you the feeling that you should be going to a Disco), and their hosts were competent technical experts.
Which brings us to the final question. What sort of drugs were they ON?!?
-Vendal Thornheart
However, Google's cache has it and who knows how long it will hold on to it. :(
;)
So, download the page and cache it yourself.....
Or send archive.org to the Google cache
I've got more mod points and GMail invi
"I don't think comcast likes to do what the customers want." So much for capitalism ;)
Nah, if it turned out to be any good I'm sure you'd just end up getting sued by the Networks. The thing is its a LOT of work setting up and running a show, especially one on technology. You need writers, a decent budget for products to review, actual access to hot new technology, and lastly you would need a decent set so your show doesn't look like shit. It can be done on a shoestring budget but it just takes more time and work then most people want to put it in. Are you willing to max out your credit card on new technology to review for a show that you put out for Free? Its going to be a long time before someone can throw together a replacement for TSS etc out of their home.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
I think this makes perfect sense from Comcast's point of view. We may not like it, but we are a minority. This is what is going on: Money is in video games. Video games = cash. People in the mainstream are into video games. Comcast owned the G4 network, a 24/7 network for games. It stinks. Turns out anyone who likes video games, including their key demographic (males age 12-34), and tuning into TechTV. Why???? Because TechTV has enough stuff on video games: X-Play is better than G4 game review shows, and The Screen Savers and other shows talk about games/gaming hardware/software. So....what is Comcast to do???? Why not: 1.) Buy TechTV, thus eliminating the competition 2.) Merge G4 and TechTV, to make one network, basically dedicated to gaming, G4TechTV. 3.) Fire TechTV staff and (eventually) turn the "TechTV portion" into programming that is video game related. 4.) Thus while we lose the small minority of geeks, if we make a good video game network, consists of game/hardware/software preview/review/discussion shows, we'll get a larger audience. Basically G4 was hurting Comcast because it sucked, but Comcast wanted to tap into the video game market. Eliminating TechTV and making G4 better is the plan. If it will work remains to be seen. However, I'm sure Comcast isn't crying because the geeks will be leaving in droves. They are looking to gain a more mainstream audience. G4TechTV just might do that (just because you, the geek, are not watching doesn't mean it cannot go mainstream).
Wouldn't something like this do MUCH better on a pay-for download basis? Shows like this are NOT expensive to produce, and using bittorrent as a distribution model (those who leach pay more) would make it more efficient to distribute.
Especialy since it's a tech oriented show.
I would rather be ashes than dust!
Agreed... the new G4 is really, really low. You just don't get the kind of genuine spontaneity with the G4 shows as you did with TechTV. They were a real community, a small nitch of people who you got to know, it was really a lot of fun.
The dialogue and narration on G4 feels so rehersed and forced, typicle of a giant beaurocracy. And with Leo now not holding any important role other than 1 minute pre-taped segments aired on the new, alienated screen savers... really miss that guy.
The new screen savers is analogous to the new wayne's world after it had been baught by some tv corp. and done on a set.. that's just the feeling you get with G4.
I disagree. They were much worse than that. I was unable to watch for more than 15 minutes at a time because my neck got sore from wincing every time they said something inaccurate. If we need more inaccurate tech reports, we can always hit msn.com
Bullroar. Absolute nonsense.
When did ZDTV come out? Let's see, it was probably 1998-1999, if I remember correctly. That's about 6 years on the air. During that time, they went from having very few advertisers, to having many (as some other posts here have actually lamented). They went from a few original programs to more than a few.
Basically, they could survive on their own. Sure, not the same way Comedy Central or TNT survives, but they had been around for quite some time and had been steadily improving the whole time. No telethons our pleading for cash necessary. They WERE surviving before this move, they just weren't a cash cow.
And why would ANYONE rejoice in Comcast picking this channel up to make it another cookie-cutter crappy cable TV network? Sure, it might become marginally more profitable, but we already have 150+ cable channels offering the same crap. YOU might not have liked TechTV, but it was unique. It was geeky, too, and that helped make it fun. What can we expect now instead of that "by geeks (even if you didn't like them), for geeks" feeling? Maybe all weekend movie marathons? Infomercials during non-peak hours? Stupid shitty gameshows? Maybe they can find a way to incorporate reality TV with a geek channel?
I had Comcast cable for over a year. They like to split channels. You know, Court TV from 3:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Comedy Central from 5:00 PM to 3:00 AM eveyday of the week. They show no signs of changing this fucking insanely stupid policy, even in the face of Direct TV which, *gasp*, allows you to get FULL TV channels 24 hours a day.
Somehow I don't hold high hopes of Comcast making this a channel I'd like to watch. Call me cynical, I guess...Or maybe I just learn from my bad choices in corporate content providers.
Taft