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Former TechTV Shows and Staff Dropped
Thanks to nikkisaindon for the heads up about some goings on over at G4TechTV. Apparently, Unscrewed with Martin Sargent has been cancelled, and according to Alex Albrecht's blog most of The Screen Savers staff has been let go as well (including Yoshi).
Do the G4 suits really think they purchased the eyeballs of TechTV viewers along with TechTV itself and that TechTV viewers will watch anything on that channel now that it's a completely different channel? Very strange logic.
It really reminds me of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Oops! No more eggs!
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"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
G4TechTV is unwatchable - only the imports from TechTV had any merit and now that's changing.
There's really an opportunity for someone to start a real tech channel - it could fill a now empty niche.
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WHAT WAS THE POINT OF BUYING THEM OUT????? Was it to get more stations? Cause i know a lot of the non-comcast owned ones are dropping G4 now. Was it to get hte TechTV staff.... not likely if this is any indication. So what was it????? It just seems they spent a shit load of money for no reason. Im annoyed too, I missed TechTV when Comcast pulled it in my area and since G4/Techtv is on Digital, only one TV in my house could watch it which was annoying as sin
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So is this still funny?
G4TechTV is unwatchable - only the imports from TechTV had any merit and now that's changing.
Heh, and to me even TechTV was mostly unwatchable. A lot of the good shows from when it was ZDTV were taken off the air (Silicon Spin, and Big Thinkers come to mind) while all the helpdesk shows stayed.
Ever since the Comcast buyout, it's obvious that they have been dumbing down The Screen Savers (TSS) to appeal to a younger, more gaming-focused audience. The first sign was when Leo LaPorte was dropped. Leo, was, by far the most experienced and knowledgeable person on the team, with Patrick coming up a close second. Of course, Patrick decided not to make the move to the LA area. So rather than replace Leo and Patrick with people of similar caliber and experience, they handed the reins over to Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht, two twenty-somethings who think that the IBM PC was the world's first personal computer.
I tried a few episodes of TSS after the changes, but it just wasn't the same. When Leo and Patrick talked to the architects of the personal computer revolution, you could sense the admiration and respect. When Kevin Rose or Alex Albrecht did, you always got the feeling that everything they knew about the person was read from a 3"x5" card two minutes before the show started. Kevin's computer "insight" was basically whatever he happened across when using Google.
Yoshi's mods had been interesting when he focused on useful stuff, but he had been moving way too much into the form-over-function crap that permeates so many "case modder" sites. Face it: Your life is pretty pathetic when you have a window and cold cathode lighting to show off some $100 consumer-grade motherboard with a Celeron plugged into it.
It's been quite a few weeks since I canceled my TiVo "Season Pass" for The Screen Savers. It recorded one episode since then, which I tried to watch, but found so depressing that I just deleted it after giving TSS a "thumbs down."
This does seem more like a mercy killing that anything else, TSS has been pure fluff ever since the G4 merger. They went from segments reviewing new Linux distros, building custom PC's, and case mods to segments reviewing frozen dinners and electric razors. WTF?
They used to keep me glued to the set for 90 minutes, now I can barely stand to sit through 60. :(
The main barrier to advertisers is that they don't have the security of the time constraints of traditional tv. What I mean by that is that they can offer special deals with a limited duration because they can decide it will only air during certain dates. Now while TiVO and VCRs have interfered with that a bit, it is nowhere near as serious an issue as it would be for internet downloaded shows.
The other issue is that they would have to make sure the ads were not long enough to piss people off enough to form groups to edit the ads out and rerelease the show ad free.
So traditional 30 second spots WILL NOT WORK unless they are incredibly entertaining, or worked into the show itself (product placement, or simply having the cast discuss the product, which would be fitting for this kind of show).
Other than that, the only thing stopping them from doing this is most likely the costs of doing it independantly, and the barrier of getting advertisers to be willing to risk money on advertising in this new medium.
Remember, mainstream media realizes that piracy happens, but they don't realize how eager people are to have all their content delivered online, so they're still nervous about doing it.
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I hope they don't create yet another Tommy Tallarico show (not that's he's bad, he's just on way to much). They must have looked at their ratings and said "hey, shows with sexy women really draw in viewers. Screw variety, put on X-Play 24-7"
I wish them the best of luck, the ones who got let go, and the ones who didn't but aren't long for the TV world. I hope they are able to start up something web based and independent for themselves. I know I'll watch it if they do.
Let's face it, everything that was offered on TSS and TechTV can be duplicated by visiting Slashdot and a few other select websites. To start a network of all techie shows would be a waste of investment capital. The only value brought by TSS to the tech world was their reviews and tips - again, easilly published (and cheaper) on the web. You don't need a buyout by G4 to tell you that TechTV had its days numbered over time.
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