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TechTV.com RIP

Posted by timothy on from the we-hardly-knew-ye dept.

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)."

4 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. What I don't understand... by Vthornheart · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why did they keep mostly G4? Am I the only one who believes that TechTV was several orders of magnitude in higher quality than G4? I mean, to me it wasn't even a contest! G4 looked like it was being run out of some 70's revivalist's basement!

    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
    1. Re:What I don't understand... by realinvalidname · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why did they keep mostly G4? Am I the only one who believes that TechTV was several orders of magnitude in higher quality than G4? I mean, to me it wasn't even a contest! G4 looked like it was being run out of some 70's revivalist's basement!

      It may have been several orders of magnitude "better", but the Comcast-backed G4 seems to have had several orders of magnitude "more money". Surely many noticed TechTV's bi-monthly appearances on FC. And since it was G4 that acquired TechTV, they win, which is why you see all production moving to Los Angeles (yeah, that hotbed of technology), TechTV shows and personalities (and surely staffers, if any were kept) getting demoted, etc. (life-lesson I've learned twice: when your company is bought out, always leave immediately)

      Are they too vain to understand that their shows suck? Doesn't matter, as long as they have money and are willing to cut more checks.

      Prediction: the awkward "G4TechTV" name is only a short-term ploy to try to lure the few TechTV viewers. In a year, it'll just be "G4" again, with few if any of the TechTV shows (e.g., they might keep "Anime Unleashed" only so long as they have broadcast rights to the various shows... I'd be very surprised if they renewed them, unless they did the really stupid thing and got the rights to anime based on video games, most of which are awful).

      Understanding the fact that any remotely intelligent video game player would rather play games than watch bad shows about games is left to the reader.

      --realinvalidname

  2. Bittorrent by TheLoneCabbage · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!
  3. Re:ZDTV by mrtrumbe · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It is a very low ratings, low viewership channel that could not survive on it's own... they knew it when they sold to Comcast.

    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