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The Media Media Television Technology

Comcast Signs Deal To Acquire TechTV 396

Posted by timothy from the big-business dept.
FPCat writes "Comcast has purchased TechTV. They plan to merge the station with G4. Maybe they'll stop showing Robot Wars and put some decent shows on instead. In either case, with Leo Laporte no longer hosting The Screen Savers, I expect big changes on the station..." (Of course, at this point they've only agreed to buy.)
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Comcast Signs Deal To Acquire TechTV More

Comcast Signs Deal To Acquire TechTV

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  • he hosted today? (Score:2, Informative)

    by dcstimm ( 556797 )
    Leo is still hosting, he hosted today
    • When they stop people from hosting, they let them finish everything they have planned first -- they just don't yank them off air. His time will probably be up in a few days to a week.

      • Re:he hosted today? (Score:5, Informative)

        by forand ( 530402 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:56PM (#8670268) Homepage
        Did you read the link in the blurb? Oh yeah this is /. The link says that Leo wanted to leave, not that he was getting dumped.

        However his blog doesn't say anything about this as far as I saw in my short viewing so I don't even know if the link in the blurb has it right.

        • Re:he hosted today? (Score:3, Informative)

          by LostCluster ( 625375 ) *
          Leo most certainly wanted a reduced broadcast schedule from TechTV. Presently, the man is hosting 10 hours a week of live TV, and then doing 6 hours a week of live radio on his weekends, in addition to his book-writing projects. He needed a break...

      • Re:he hosted today? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by dubdays ( 410710 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:56PM (#8670285)

        It will really be a shame when he's no longer hosting TSS. I remember when he and Kate were the hosts, and seriously, it was absolutly the best show on the air. It's sad, but a lot of on-air geeks really lack any real personality whatsoever. Not Leo. He is funny, interesting, insightful (you know, all the +1 words). He's the reason I began watching the show almost 6 years ago, and his leaving is the reason I'll watch it no longer. Besides, everyone else on that show is annoying as hell!

        He is, in reality, why I'm an IT manager today

        We love ya Leo!!!

        • Re:he hosted today? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by maxbang ( 598632 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:04PM (#8670400) Journal

          I'm with ya, bud. Leo 'n' Kate, then Kate's emigre to that game show (jeez - I can't even remember what it was called before X-play). The current host set is odd, at best. I haven't watched it in over a year because they're just not the same. It was funny as hell when Woz and Mitnick hosted - stuttering, stammering, hamfisting their way through 90 minutes of fun TV time. The most annoying to me is that Kevin Rose dude. While I admire his enthusiasm for, and advocacy of, Linux and open source, he seems to be trying a little hard to be geeky (man, I wish that was true in high school ;) I think he thinks he's 1337 h@x0r or something. One of his "Dark Tips": Kazaa Lite. WTF? I wish I could stick it to the man like that.

          • jeez - I can't even remember what it was called before X-play

            Extended Play. I really enjoyed the promo that had Adam Sessler punching and dodging in a side-scroller, the camera pulling back to reveal Kate at the joystick of a cabinet.

    • Re:he hosted today? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by SydShamino ( 547793 )
      While Leo might be interesting for the color he adds to the show, I have to admit that I cringe when he tries to offer help on any really technical problem. Usually he bumbles around a little bit while Patrick looks something up on the web, then Patrick can give the caller some ideas.

      Contrast that with Patrick/Kevin. In this case, Kevin starts out by immediately giving some useful advice, then Patrick chimes in with advice of his own and the websites he just found. All in all, it's better advice to the

    • Re:he hosted today? (Score:5, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:31PM (#8670800)
      Leo is still hosting, he hosted today

      This is his farewell tour as host of TSS. He'll host tonight, and four episodes next week. (Friday has been a scheduded rerun day for a while now.)

      This actually is of Leo's own doing. He actually doesn't want to host TSS anymore, he'd rather be hosting Call For Help. His new work schedule, which starts the week after next, calls for him to only be at the studio two days a week, during which he'll record five episodes of Call For Help and contribute some segments to TSS. On the remaining three weekdays, he'll work from home preparing research for both his TechTV duties and also for his KFI radio show which he does live based out of a barn-turned-radio-studio on his own property.

      So, this really is the end of a overbooked 7-day-workweek schedule he's been on for about the last six months. He's basically going into a semi-retirement, while also assuring that he'll still be employed even if he's no longer with TechTV.

      • Re:he hosted today? (Score:3, Informative)

        by scupper ( 687418 ) *
        Leo's statements in his blog about " prudent to diversify [typepad.com]" and this below from the G4 FAQ seem to imply Leo is bracing for the boot. Notice the absence of "Call For Help" from among the shows G4 has listed will be programmed from TechTV, the only show which Leo will be hosting full time w/ TechTV pending the approval of the Comcast Deal.

        G4 FAQ: Programming http://g4tv.com/techtvmerger/ [g4tv.com]

        Q: What will a typical programming day look like?

        A: The merged network will be the nation's premier 24/7 television

  • Heh. (Score:4, Funny)

    by outZider ( 165286 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:45PM (#8670083) Homepage
    Yes, because as we all know, Comcast means Quality.

    • Re:Heh. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by t0qer ( 230538 )
      Yes, because as we all know, Comcast means Quality.

      I know you're trying to kid around about comcast, but despite all the horror stories i've heard about their cable modem offerings, i've had nothing but "good service" from them.

      I used to have pacbell DSL. Routinely I would come home to find that stupid green light blinking while the damn thing tried to keep a connection. Sometimes it would go out for 3 or 4 days, any you would think pacbell would have prorated my bill due to service disruptions, never

  • TechTV should be on regular cable. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by emo boy ( 586277 ) <hoffman_brian@ba h . com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:46PM (#8670092) Homepage
    There. I've said my piece.

  • 1) I will finally have techtv again on comcast 2) Techtv will have more funding which will provide for better programming. I guess when you can't buy disney the only thing left to do is buy techtv. It's a sad world we live in when megaconglomerates can't get everything theey want
    • Better programming.....

      That may mean that they pull Anime Unleashed for something with a more global appear. That would kill of 90% of the content I find interesting on all of DirecTV.

      Of course, maybe they will fix the guide information so that individual shows are listed based on the series they belong to, not just 'Anime Unleashed'. My TiVo will be much happier then.

  • Another [probable] blow to objective journalism... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:47PM (#8670110)
    ...since Microsoft owns quite a chunk of Comcast, [microsoft.com] once this deal goes through you will have heard the last of any criticism of Microsoft or their products on TechTV.
  • Perhaps well soon see Super-X-killerBOT agaist Mickey Mouse Show.

  • lineup (Score:5, Funny)

    by millahtime ( 710421 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:48PM (#8670142) Homepage Journal
    I have some lineup show ideas.... 1) On Macs 2) Chicks of teck world 3) On open source 4) Hot chicks of the tech world in bathing suits 5) Cool new toys 6) Hot chicks of the tech world in bathing suits showing off cool new tech toys 7) A show of extreme dating meets tech folks (with hot chicks only) .....

    • Re:lineup (Score:5, Funny)

      by BMonger ( 68213 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:50PM (#8670179)
      Paige Davis needs to host the new case mod show called...

      "Trading Cases".

      • Re:lineup (Score:3, Interesting)

        by willtsmith ( 466546 )
        OK, that was funny.

        But that would be interesting to see geeks swap their machines and individually upgrade them.

        Does GUI customization count as an upgrade. What about a new art of home case painting???? Workspaces and desks should be included.

        Perhaps it should be called "Trading (work) Stations".

      • Re:lineup (Score:5, Funny)

        by Penguinisto ( 415985 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:01PM (#8670370) Journal
        ...and she should be in a bikini

        (aww, frig! Now I'm showing my age!)

    • > A show of extreme dating meets tech folks
      >(with hot chicks only) .....

      Co-ed naked Junkyard Wars! ... careful with that welder, son. ;)
    • 1 - Macs are part of a good number of the shows.
      2 - They do have some decent looking chicks in many of the shows...
      3 - Look closely - note that there are a LOT of penguins on set on The Screen Savers...
      4 - Sorry...
      5 - I know they've got a show for that, I just forgot what it is... Hot Gear, maybe?
      6 - Sorry, no bathing suits, and no plural.
      7 - Well, I guess they're trying a bit with the Date Laura Swisher contest, but the (with hot chicks only) part isn't exactly satisfied...

  • It is to bad. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:49PM (#8670144)
    It is to bad that both of these stations just seem to stay very light on the true tech stuff. It would be nice if it were more like a discovery channel for tech stuff. Heck I would love a station that shows different algorithms, or different ways to do things in different languages. But Tech TV and G4 (Especially G4) just seemed like the Commercial Channel that advertises all that is l33t. Tech TV has a couple of good show but they were still laking. I guess that is why I watch Nasa TV.

    • Re:It is to bad. (Score:5, Funny)

      by David Hume ( 200499 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:55PM (#8670265) Homepage

      Heck I would love a station that shows different algorithms, or different ways to do things in different languages.


      Now there is a recipe for high ratings.

    • Re:It is to bad. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TCaptain ( 115352 ) <slashdot...20... ... pamgourmet...com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:56PM (#8670274)
      I'd love this too, problem is that only maybe 10 people would watch it. :/

      The rest wouldn't even change to THAT channel..it would just hurt their brains too much.

      The lowest common denominator is just too damn low.
    • Heck I would love a station that shows different algorithms, or different ways to do things in different languages.

      The problem is no one else would.

    • Re:It is to bad. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Zathrus ( 232140 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:59PM (#8670332) Homepage
      It would be nice if it were more like a discovery channel for tech stuff.

      Er... TechTV is.

      What, you think Discovery Channel (and its progeny) are hardcore science/history/etc.? Please. I enjoy a lot of programs on those channels, but I also know they're about as well respected by "serious" historians and in-field scientists as The Screen Savers is respected by real techies.

    • Eh, I wouldn't watch (Score:3, Interesting)

      by qortra ( 591818 )
      The fact is, computer-based news/facts are so much more easily obtained on the web (with a computer, of all devices). What you're suggesting is like making a radio station dedicated to innovations-in and methods-of television broadcasting.

      I can understand what you're looking for, but television is the wrong medium. Stations like G4/TechTV will always be targeted towards those who plan to make the jump into computers, or who have only been recently indoctrinated into the WWW.
    • You mean like Discovery used to be, before it turned into "all Monster Garage, all the time"? I don't dislike that show, or other new Discovery fare like Mythbusters, but what happened to the science? Discovery has gone downhill, though not as badly as TLC. *shudder*

      I can just see it: "Today, on GTechTV4...Trading Cases, where two sets of neighbors trade computers for the weekend and do a killer new mod on one box in each others' homes!"

      -Carolyn

    • Here's a source for hard tech info (Score:4, Informative)

      by Isao ( 153092 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:29PM (#8670780)
      There is such a station. It's called the Research Channel [researchchannel.org].

      It's available free in the U.S. on Dish Network [dishnetwork.com] (channel 9400), many cable networks [researchchannel.org] or direct from Ku-band satellite on Galaxy 10R [lyngsat.com] (11.805GHz, Horizontal, 4580ksym/sec).

      Straight from the lab to your living room.

  • "I'm into murders and executions." (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:49PM (#8670145)
    Even though I only have basic cable, I have seen countless hours of TechTV and G4 when I had the chance. TechTV showed in 1 hour what G4 bloated into 8.

    G4 never had potential. Games are an interactive media. Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself? Why wait 25 minutes see a review on a game you're curious about when you can go online and find it in 25 seconds?

    Hopefully this merger will in effect kill G4 completely and simply give TechTV a little more programming devoted to video games instead.

    But then again, you'll probably have to pay a premium channel fee to get this new 2-in-1 channel anyway.

    • Re:"I'm into murders and executions." (Score:5, Interesting)

      by daveo0331 ( 469843 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:12PM (#8670535) Homepage Journal
      G4 never had potential. Games are an interactive media. Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself? Why wait 25 minutes see a review on a game you're curious about when you can go online and find it in 25 seconds?
      I agree, but wouldn't this criticism apply to a lot of other (successful) TV shows too? Why should I sit through 25 minutes of "news" stories I don't care about to see the one story I could have found in 25 seconds on an internet news site? Why sit through the Oscars when I can just look up the winners the next day on the web? Why watch an NBA game instead of going outside and actually playing basketball?

      TV doesn't have to be all that good, it just has to be good enough to grab your attention while channel surfing.
    • Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself?

      Good point! Let's extend this further! Why would you want to read news and view clip of other people playing football/basketball/baseball when you could be playing them yourselves? That's why shows like ESPN will never catch on.

    • Re:"I'm into murders and executions." (Score:4, Interesting)

      by smcn ( 87571 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:50PM (#8671082)
      Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself?

      I've never watched G4, but I did once have a subscription to IGN.com and the video previews were my favorite part. Sometimes screenshots just aren't enough.

      Why wait 25 minutes see a review on a game you're curious about when you can go online and find it in 25 seconds?

      That's an easy one: Not everyone who plays video games has internet access, the same way not everyone who goes to see movies has internet access. Why do you think Roger Ebert has been on TV for so many years?

  • Please, please! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Torgo's Pizza ( 547926 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:49PM (#8670155) Homepage Journal
    Let Adam Sessler be next to go!

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:50PM (#8670170)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • This is one of my big gripes about TSS. The combo of Pat and Kevin seem to be a good mix. They just need to move Sara off the show, so her and Kevin stop kissing eachothers ass on the show.

      • Re:Leo Laporte (Score:3, Interesting)

        by gerardrj ( 207690 )
        Frankly I find all the "hosts" annoying to some degree

        Leo is by far the worst, ignorant, loud and he continually interrupts people smarter than he is.

        Patrick needs to stop saying "well, ya know what...." before or in the middle of every sentence

        Kevin needs to either learn more than on hand gesture, or stop doing it every 15 seconds

        Sarah needs to go away, or at least not be on screen. She's not very knowledgable and she's not very good eye candy, unlike Morgan, Jessica and Erica (or formerly Sumi and Su

    • Re:Leo Laporte (Score:3, Interesting)

      by TopShelf ( 92521 )
      In general I like Leo (especially as compared to many other TechTV-ers), but you are sooo right about his interrupting. It's like he's so enthusiastic to show off how much he knows that he

      Leo jumps in

      "finishes their sentences for them and follows up with another couple of points that leave the guest just to sit there and give an awkward, 'uh, yeah' while Leo continues on? Yeah, I hate that, too..."

    • Re:Leo Laporte (Score:3, Interesting)

      by freeze128 ( 544774 )
      I've been watching TechTV for about 3 years now, and I can tell you that Leo didn't always interrupt his co-hosts or guests. Only within the last 9-12 months has this started to happen. He used to work VERY well with Patrick Norton.

      There is a local public access technology show in my area, and the host on that show NEVER lets his guests finish their sentences. It must just be something about the business.

    • Re:Leo Laporte (Score:5, Insightful)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:24PM (#8670711)
      The better somebody is at being a geek, the worse said person is at appearing on TV. Leo's interruptions are mostly of the nature of keeping the guest on topic and on pace, which is the responsiblity of any TV host. Sometimes, you've just got to cut the guest off because letting them ramble is even worse TV.

    • Re:Leo Laporte (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gerardrj ( 207690 )
      YES!!!! Seriously, the guy NEVER let the person he was interviewing finish a thought. Leo always interrupts and gives, usually wrong, commentary on the subject.

      Like this:

      Leo: So John... how did you come up with the idea?

      John: Well, I was going to school at

      Leo: You went to University of hogwash right? What was that like in those days?

      John: I started at UoH for a semester, but graduated from Noplace Technical. Shortly after that I was working for a startup

      Leo: a startup, wow.... you must have been makin
  • WIll they still show Anime Unleashed? Will I get to see the second half of Last Exile?

  • RobotWars (Score:3, Insightful)

    by FrostedWheat ( 172733 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:52PM (#8670206)
    Maybe they'll stop showing Robot Wars and put some decent shows on instead

    I dunno what Robot Wars your watching, but the UK one is a really good show. The only thing spoiling it now are the adverts! (It changed channels here, never used to have adverts before.)
    • TechTV is only showing imported episodes from the UK with commercial breaks inserted into the program. (They've yet to aquire the latest season that's presently airing in the UK.)

      TNN, which is now called SpikeTV, aquired the rights to produce a US-based version of the show along with rerun rights to one of the UK seasons. Their main mistake was bringing in poor choices of US personalites to host their edition of the show, and completely editing out the Brit hosts from the imported episodes in favor of an e

  • Merger FAQ from G4 (Score:5, Informative)

    by Blackwulf ( 34848 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:53PM (#8670221) Homepage
    G4 has posted a FAQ on the merger. [g4tv.com]

    • Re:Merger FAQ from G4 (Score:5, Interesting)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:16PM (#8670608)
      However, this G4 FAQ needs to be taken with a grain of salt because it appears to be written by G4 employees whose jobs are just as uncertain as TechTV employee jobs at this point. At a business level, G4 is not buying TechTV... Comcast is buying most TechTV from Vulcan Ventures, with Echostar being fussy and refusing to sell their shares in TechTV, Inc.

      That, and the FAQ really doesn't ammount to anything newsworthy. The listings of shows aren't exactly promises that any of the shows listed will continue or those left out will not, and the fact that the network's "headquarters" will be in L.A. just means that the PHBs will be located there. For example, CNN presently houses their executives and master control operations, but most of their weekday lineup is originating from New York City and Washington D.C. moreso than Altanta at this point. The content people don't always have to be at "headquarters".

      Another thing that the FAQ nicely dodges is whether the new network will be called "TechTV", "G4", or some other name.

  • What concerns me most (Score:5, Informative)

    by JSDopefish ( 742020 ) <joe@@@siegler...net> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:53PM (#8670227) Homepage
    is that Comcast HATES HATES HATES DirecTV. G4 has never been on DirecTV because of that. Philadelphia Phillies games are never shown on DirecTV (at least not ones with Phillies coverage) because of their hatred of satellite.

    I really hope that it doesn't cause TechTV to disappear off DirecTV. I have about 6 shows with Season passes on my TiVo from TechTV. I'll be seriously pissed.

    In fact, I'm already pissed. I like TechTV just the way it is.
    • Notice what the G4's CEO said "... This merger is a win for G4; a win for TechTV; and a win for our advertising and affiliate partners," I didn't see anything about viewers. In other words I suspect that your worries will turn out to be founded.

      • Business As Usual (Score:5, Interesting)

        by CleverNickName ( 129189 ) * <wil@wilwheato[ ]et ['n.n' in gap]> on Friday March 26, 2004 @12:11AM (#8676711) Homepage Journal
        I didn't see anything about viewers. In other words I suspect that your worries will turn out to be founded

        When I was at G4, The Viewers were the last thing on management's mind. There were some executives who actually had a great deal of contempt for "those stupid gamers."

        It's like that in most of television, though. The Viewer is just a potential sale for the advertiser. What The Viewer thinks just isn't important to The Company.

        In this age of mega-mergers and vertically integrated companies who control distribution and content, they don't have to give a flying fuck about The Viewer, so they don't.

  • This scares me (Score:5, Insightful)

    by damniel ( 662838 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:53PM (#8670230) Homepage
    Does this mean I might lose tech tv on my Directv satellite? This just allows Comcast to come out, and charge enough for the programming that other providers(small cable companies,directv,dish network) cannot afford the programming. As these large companies such as Time Warner, Comcast etc., start buying up more interesting programming such as tech tv, I think we will start to see a homogenizing affect. Worst case, they may find that these channels don't generate enough ratings, to make big ad dollars, so they drop them, after they have been assimilated.

    • Re:This scares me (Score:3, Informative)

      by leviramsey ( 248057 ) *

      Comcast Sports Net (the Baltimore-Washington-NoVa version, not the Philly version) is available on DirecTV. The crappy excuse for a channel called CN8 is not available on DirecTV, though.

      Small cable cos are in no danger, as they generally don't share markets with Comcast.

      Dish is in the dangerous position. DirecTV is harder to cut off, because if Comcast tries to cut DirecTV out, News Corp. will cut Comcast out of Fox News, Fox Sports Net, and network-owned affiliates. If Comcast in northern New Jerse

    • Does this mean I might lose tech tv on my Directv satellite?

      According to the splash on the G4 site it means that G4 will be expanded to "44 million cable and satellite homes nationwide". Given that currently all of 0 Dish or DirecTV homes currently receive G4 I'd guess that the merged G4/TechTV will simply replace TechTV.

      I'd also guess that there will be no rate changes for providers until their contract runs out (however long the contract w/ TechTV was). At that point Comcast could try to gouge for G4,

    • Re:This scares me (Score:5, Informative)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:19PM (#8670641)
      No. TechTV has long-term deals with DirecTV, Dish Network, and nearly every cable operator (other than Comccast, interestingly) that would be mighty expensive to break. Any serious changes to TechTV will have to be signed-off by these players or there'd be the risk of a breach of contract lawsuit forming.

      That, and to buy TechTV, and then take it away from its existing distribution structure would be like buying a $300 million dollar toy, playing with it for a day, and then throwing it in the trash. There's not much value in taking TechTV and then making it as weak as G4 is today...

  • TechTV + G4... should have happened years ago... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gamgee5273 ( 410326 ) * on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:56PM (#8670283) Journal
    I remember TechTV in its heyday (when I was laid-off in the summer of 2001). Fairly strong programming, very little repetition... and then I went back to work.

    By time I got to watch a decent stretch of TechTV again, it was December of 2001 and the channel was shot. TSS was repeating upwards of four times a day, that Lockergnome freak was destroying Call for Help and the news department seemed to ship everyone off to CNN.

    Fast forward a little bit to 2002/2003 and Comcast now has G4 and Anime Network. TechTV is trying to get into anime (never figured that one out) to reach a "hipper audience." G4, even in its initial prime, was akin to watching a post-2001 TechTV (how many of you have watched our very own Wil Wheaton hosting the same handful of "Arena" episodes for close to a year?!?).

    Now, I'm no fan of Comcast, but this does one thing: solidifies geekdom in one channel.

    Comcast should:

    1) Bring Wil back; 2) Give Leo a big, fat payraise; 3) Create a proper news department; 4) Send all of the anime over to Anime Network;

    And, most importanly:

    5) Get G4/TechTV (GeekTV?) and Anime Network on DirecTV so I CAN WATCH/TiVO THEM, DAMMIT! :D

    In all, this is probably a good thing...

  • That's okay (Score:5, Funny)

    by PsiPsiStar ( 95676 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @01:57PM (#8670288)
    >(Of course, at this point they've only

    >agreed to buy.)

    At this point, I've onlya agreed to watch.
  • I waited and waited for so long for TechTV to improve enough so that I would watch it again. So now it's gotten good enough again that it's finally back on my lineup, and some mega-conglomerate is going to start screwing around with it? Time to vote it down on the Tivo, and start waiting all over again I guess....
  • I figured they were toast when the bubble popped.

    Seriously, I read about this yesterday on FC - I'm kind of surprised to see it here, too. While an occasional tech-centered show on a cable channel is one thing, having a channel devoted to it is another. Comcast may be able to make something of it, but more likely they'll just wind up taking a couple of the better shows and splicing them in elsewhere.

  • My twisted hate-hate relationship w/ Comcast (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dnaboy ( 569188 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:02PM (#8670381)
    I really don't know what to make of this one. In my old place, I had DirecTV, and LOVED it, for several reasons, not the least of which being TechTV. True, it's not the most amazingly technical network in the world, but I really enjoyed shows like FreshGear (where a lot of new toys are previewed, and reviewed), and even the Screen Savers (which delivers computer tips and tricks along with even more web sites to visit in order to make sure my employer gets the least value possible for his employee dollar). Anyway, a year or so ago I moved to a new apartment, facing the wrong direction for my dish. No big deal. I'll just get cable...

    My Bill went from basic programming for about 30something dollars to 70something dollars. Who's my cable company? You guessed it. Comcast.

    I still pay out the cash, though the thing that really irks me is that I don't get the stations I had come to take for granted. TechTV, CNBC world (OK, I'm a dork), and a bunch of other, slightly less important channels.

    I guess I'm glad, as I'll apparently now likely get TechTV back, but I seriously hope this doesn't mean another rate hike (above the 8% from last fall, out of which we got zero new channels, and a new arrangement of channels so that I had to relearn every channel again.

    My Rant is done...I'm going to go watch Dawson's Creek.

  • Not kissing up here, but TechTV is boring and dumbed down (often infuriatingly so).

  • TechTV.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by John Seminal ( 698722 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:08PM (#8670464) Journal
    I remember watching this show in college. Back then they previewed new video cards, talked about software, and played will all sorts of gadgets. They also let people know about new products comming out. So I am suprised the show never took off. I never once was offered Tech TV with my cable deal after leaving the dorms (it has been many years, and I now get 60 channels, twice as many as in college). I know when I was in college, if Tech TV gave a good review for some cool product, someone in the dorm would purhcase it. So they had a great audiance for selling products. I wonder why they failed?

  • Patrick Norton (Score:4, Interesting)

    by jrwillis ( 306262 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:09PM (#8670488) Homepage
    While I hate to see Leo no longer hosting TSS, so long as Patrick Norton is still there we're ok. I think he's one of the only true geeks on TV right now. Rock on Patrick.

  • Now I understand... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Cboyd0319 ( 763684 )
    Two nights ago, I came home from work to find that my TechTV was no longer included in my programming. I called Comcast to see what was going on and they informed me that the 'Buisness Network' channels were now $5 more a month. This included TechTV, Bloomberg, and a few others. Of course, I told them to go ahead and charge me the $5. I was curious about the sudden billing change, but now I understand. A lot of money was probably spent on this, and I'm sure they wanted to see how many users jumped at the ch
  • Could someone explain to me what G4 is? I can't view their homepage without turning on cookies and I find it rather strange that (what I presume to be) a technology website (which would in theory understand privacy) would force anyone to turn on cookies to do so much as view their main index page.

  • DirecTV going to keep it? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by EvilStein ( 414640 ) <spam@BALDWINpbp.net minus author> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:22PM (#8670688)
    Or will Comcast pull it from DirecTV in another lame ploy to get us all to subscribe to lame ass "digital cable?"

    We all know how wonderful Comcast's "customer service" has been...

  • Personally... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Trolling4Dollars ( 627073 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:25PM (#8670721) Journal
    ...I can't stand TechTV. It's the biggest example of "armchair techie" pandering around. You can't watch TechTV and expect to learn anything from it that's of any use unless you're a typical home user or hobbyist. When I first got DirecTV, I was hoping that TechTV would be less consumer oriented and more technology oriented. But most of what they feature on their programming is very boring and old news. Then their non-technology programming blows pretty hard too. I mean, Thunderbirds? Come on! Why not feature good SciFi that is truly "geek worthy". Doctor Who comes to mind. Anyway.. I imagine TechTV will go from worse to hellish. Fortunately I don't watch much TV these days and I NEVER watch TechTV.

  • Just like "The Site"... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kherr ( 602366 ) <kevin&puppethead,com> on Thursday March 25, 2004 @02:25PM (#8670725) Homepage
    From the Yahoo article (emphasis added):
    Charles Hirschhorn, founder and CEO of G4, will be the CEO of the combined network. "This merger is a win for G4; a win for TechTV; and a win for our advertising and affiliate partners," said Hirschhorn.
    Seems to have left out mention of the viewers. Guess it's not a win for us. Will it be like MSNBC and "The Site" all over again? Screw the intelligent programming, let's pander to product placement and marketing!

  • TechTV - one of a kind (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mabu ( 178417 ) on Thursday March 25, 2004 @04:15PM (#8672260)
    As much bashing as TechTV has received here, and I agree that some of their programming, like robot wars, was lame, it still was IMO, the best network of its kind. If Comcast takes it over, it will go downhill fast.

    One thing I really respected was their desire to not edit out their own computer problems. Someone would call in with a Windows question, and their computer would crash on-air -- and they felt it important to let others see that they too, had problems with blue screens of death and things not working properly. You can bet that Paul Allen's crew will edit out these segments so that everyone who watches will see a flawless computer presentation and therefore think the problems they're having are their fault, and not the result of crappy software.

    The TechTV crew are very honest folks that don't bow to the current corporate flavor. I saw them test three brands of wireless push-to-talk devices and they had no reservations about saying which ones sucked and which ones worked. That's refreshing. I guess now we'll see a big string of washed up celebrities going on the show to hawk their latest flop, peppered with more over-hyped software and hardward so that it will be a Tech-ized version of Entertainment Tonite. Oh well. Buh bye TechTV.

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