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Inside TechTV/G4
An anonymous reader writes "Former G4TechTV employee, Dan Huard, blows the whistle on G4. In the last half of his article, he states that TSS manufactured questions and used 'ringers' to ask their questions on the show."
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Leo was the only person giving TSS any semblance of watchability. When he left the whole thing spiraled down the toilet fairly quickly. Even before then, a lot of the unique tech content that made TSS cool at the beginning had started to be replaced with useless fluff.
I haven't watched TechTV since it was bought out by G4, and, to be honest, I don't intend to start. It was excellent before the takeover, but afterwards, the focus changed, and it became clear that the new management didn't want the "geeks" that watched TechTV. So be it. But don't expect me to watch G4/TechTV anymore.
The purpose of a media company is to make money selling product and promoting the owner's point of view. This, in turn, means that viewer share is paramount, and that if you have to "fix" the content to get more viewer share, so be it.
Viewers do not want reality. They get enough of it from work, raising children, the tax man, and the world in general. They want to associate, identify, and forget the crummy world they had to endure most of the day. The masses want Disney, okay?
You should always remember a media business truism: "The public are morons". Media types will never say this out where you can hear them, but I have sat through enough conference room discussions to know where these folks land. The reason for this is simple. In the great statistical average of the world, it's true. As much as you would have it otherwise.
It is said that only one person out of thirty creates art, literature, science, or policy. Skip media. Hang around those folks instead. Become one of them. We need all we can get.
Yes, I consider the Internet to be media now...
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
I don't think people are shocked that it happened, but I do think it's good to get the straight scoop about how the situation evolved.
As a moderately geeky business major, I see this as a management failure, so having this story helps me understand how not to screw up something good. If some geeky broadcast majors read this article, maybe they can help prevent some other geeky goodness from failing later.
Just my two cents worth.
The force that blew the Big Bang continues to accelerate.
G4 is a network aimed at the video game (console and PC) markets.
They were merged with TechTV to take advantage of the greater audience
availability that channel had gained.
TSS is an acronym for The ScreenSavers. An end-user oriented Tech News,
commentary, tips, call-in and variety show that was the flagship program
for the defunct network.
We cared because back in the day, while TSS did reflect much of the Windows-centric
viewpoint of much of the computer industry, they were also a positive and active source
of news and information about OSS, Linux, Windows Alternatives, Windows Security and
functional issues; and keeping an open mind about users choices in use (and abuse)
of technology.
A slashdot story (from michael the censorware killer, no less) complaining about journalistic integrity! Oh the irony.
At the bottom of the
This is a subtle point, when Hitler segragated the Jews from German society, the German's lost a talented pool of scientists and engineers. It's a good analogy; IMHO!
It's because comcast is evil.
Before they bought out TechTV and it was doing so well they kept bumping it up to only be included on the more expensive plans. One day I changed to tech TV and all I got was "not authorized" until I agreed to pay more money. I only fell for for that once and then the next time I told them to screw it.
After they killed TechTV by buying it up and merging it with their crap clone G4 they left in on the more expensive plan expecting people would still want it that much. WRONG!
Everyone at TechTV saw it coming. Some just had options ready, some couldn't leave immediately. When you're 48 and accomplished, there are doors awaiting, even if you have to make them yourself. A 21 year old has to ride the wave. Not many tech television jobs around.
I hate to say this, but you're preaching to the wrong choir. Because if you haven't noticed, then Slashdot is rolling down the same hill. News for Nerds? Get real. Most of these "news" come from mainstream sources such as ABC, New York Times and BBC. Most of the people reading (and posting to) Slashdot just fancy themselves nerds, as being a nerd is cool.
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
But you won't be there forever. When you move on, the next person will most likely pillage your audience for the maximum profit/lowest cost.
I think that's what was shown in the original article. While the show was under control of TechTV, it was good. After the buyout/merger, it sucked.
the Screen Savers were the only show on TV that would come close to taking about technology. Where else on TV would you hear Linux mentioned as well as a live install (as Megan did on a show) They would often mention programs that I had never heard of and I would go download them. The first time I heard of Knoppix was on The Screensavers. Hell, they even had Taco in for an interview. (The last good thing they did after the merger)
I once loved watching the show but now I can't. The new hosts are all about gaming, gaming, gaming.
The last few times I dared watch X-Play (about a month ago), I noticed that the show went from criticism, to showing cinematics and previews of upcoming games. Opinions seem to have been removed from the show. It was like a series of commercials interrupted by lame banter.
At least Morgan was still hot... but that's just not enough anymore, so I tuned out forever.
Well done Comcast...
"Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me."
See, we're talking about two different things here. Two different persons. One is the nerd and the other is the image of a nerd. Actually being a nerd might not be cool, but being a "nerd" is, just like it's cool to be "green" and so on. Reading Slashdot and watching gaming programmes is a part of the image.
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
I think it is pretty clear that Comcast wanted to make use the TechTV trademark (because it's popularity was growing) to promote G4.
Furthermore, I think it's cleat that Comcast has intentionally alienated hardcore TechTV viewers.
I have had people who work in TV tell me that nobody tries to alienate any viewers, but I think it is more than clear that G4 wants TechTV viewers out and replace them with an MTV crowd.
Want evidence of this? Look at the commercials. Gone are the cadillac commercials. Insert the goofy video game commercials, and some really stupid (dumbed down) computer hardware commercials. I saw an nViDiA commercial that actually explained what a GPU was!
I figured such a commercial was more non-tech channel worthy, but when you consider G4 is driving out tech-oriented viewers for MTV gamers, these "dumb" commericals are quite appropo.
Does anyone really care that the calls were scripted/easy/whatever? I know I didn't. Actually the live calls have always been my least favorite part of TechTV. 2 to 3 minutes of complete boredom. You just simply can't answer an "interesting" question in the time they are allotted for live calls.
In reading Dan's article, I was actually surprised to learn that the calls were ever pseudo-live at all. I started watching TechTV back when it was still ZDTV and The Screen Savers was a 90 minute show. Even back then I assumed the live calls were spoon fed. To me it always seemed natural that it would have to be that way. The only way you could take a live call of the cuff would be to just have someone call in and chime in with a 20 second opinion about something like they do on Talk Radio.
So, so true, and yet the powers that be that run this website will never allow this truth to be told in any way. Slashdot is runned by complete hypocrits.
There used to be several channels like this, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, I remember watching a 2-3 hour Nova special on Voyager 2 and that was the greatest thing I had ever seen, the rose and superball in liquid nitrogen was quite good too. The nice thing was that when they appealed to people who wanted to know, they had shows that went in depth, and others that were more for those who were interested but didn't have the time to get all of the background before hand.
Guess what, that type of TV station doesn't make money now, its not what the majority want. Personally I never thought very highly of TechTV ever anyway and I don't see how you can call it in depth coverage, it was a glossing over of everything just as much as the evening news is and I don't understand what everyones love affair with the cast members is but format failed and went where it has for the same reason Discovery plays that god awful monster garage and National Geographic has reality shows, that format makes far more money then appealing to a small segment of the population.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
who is it protecting him?
who is really calling the shots at G4?
why is such incompetence allowed to continue?
why is it the same at every big company I've worked for?
why can't anyone in management actually effectively manage?
sadly, it seems that power corrupts, and the corrupt are crappy in power
Words to men, as air to birds.
I was never a Leo fan, but I'd just adjusted to the first road of changes when they added the 'guy I can't remember the name of' to cohost with Kevin with Dan, Yoshi, and Sarah backing them up. Now it's Chi-Lan, that other guy from G4 who hardly seems to know what a PC is (edit: Kevin Pereira I guess, now that I looked it up) , Kevin and Sarah... Personally I think Diane Mizota has more personality than Chi-Lan or for that matter the girls that did G4tv.com (Tina Wood and Laura Foy). Any of those would have been better choices, but I'm taking a wild guess and saying they all turned down the chance to be on TSS...
I was never a big TechTV fan, but TSS was a fairly good view while eating lunch and safe viewing material for people like my parents who might not understand everything on the show, but got a fair education into subjects they wouldn't have before... Now I'm back to telling people to avoid the whole channel, it's rather sad...
we are all invisible unless we choose otherwise
bonnie hammer destroyed the scifi channel, turning it into a stupid horror/pyschic channel aimed at housewives. but at least they occasionally ran some good series.
then scifi cancelled farscape.
then those fucks at g4 destroyed techtv.
so I cancelled cable. when they asked why, i told them - scifi and techtv had gone to shit.
why pay $40/mo on cable when you can buy an entire season of episodes for $40, commercial free, on dvd, and watch them when you want and not when the networks dictate you should watch them? (yes i know you can dvr your channels, but buying dvd box sets is still cheaper, and better quality.)
Who cares? Any outrage about this is completely missing the point: Screen Savers is a lost cause.
I remember religously watching Computer Chronicles with Stewart Cheifet when I was younger. I also used to watch TSS regularly; I even upgraded my cable package to one that included ZDTV just for the show. It was (although at times a bit basic) funny, informative, etc.
I lost track of the show when they moved to L.A. and got rid of Pat and Leo. I turned it on a week or so ago just to see what was going on these days...just in time for an insightful discussion about the word "scrotum", complete with snorting and giggling from the new adolescent "hosts"...and a new set that looks like something that a 7 year old would come up with if you asked them to imagine their dream playroom.
Thanks, Comcast...thanks for not only failing to recognize quality TV, but apparently actively setting out to flush it down the toilet.
What kind of BS thinking is that? I could probably say you might have an argument (and that's a big might btw) about Kevin, but saying that Pat and Leo were up to a bunch of shenanigans because the company that they were once employed by was bought by another company that then ran the bought company into the ground, is just plain stupid.
Think of it this way, you work for company A, Huge company B buys Company A, you not liking what you are seeing about Company B leave. That Company then fires pretty much everyone that was associated with Company A. Company B is then shown to be a bunch of liars and thieves. Does that make you a liar too, when you were never part of Company B?
Now onto the kevin situation. From all that I read Kevin wants to get out of G4, but he is bound by a contract. Several times he has posted things that are not flattering about G4 on his blog, which have strangely disappeared later (guess who ordered that one). I get the feeling that Kevin wants out, he even gave up hosting the show (or he was pressured, no way of knowing for sure).
So in short you have an argument that G4 has done shady things, hell I would agree with you. But as of this point you have no proof at all that TechTV did anything shady, all you have is unsubstantiated conjecture.
To be honest I don't recall him ever doing that. They have on occasion brought up a site on the big screen, and pointed to a certain passage on a site. Most of the time they mention the site, as for the rest of the time it is probably just live TV screwups that happen.
I think on of your last sentence is probably the closes thing to being right. TechTV, and the people that worked for it (while not perfect or a saint) did try to do the right thing. G4 seems to go out of their way to be underhanded.