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Television Media The Media

Comcast Fires TechTV Staff 664

Posted by CowboyNeal from the no-one-left-to-save-the-screens dept.
Bocaj writes "Looks like it's curtains for TechTV staff. A Leo Laporte article says that Comcast has let the entire staff go. 'Per the WARN Act (governing plant closings) all the employees of TechTV have been given 60 days notice. The San Francisco operation will be shuttered by July. 100 of the existing jobs will be posted for those willing to relocate to LA.' No word on what will happen to all the shows or the channel."
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Comcast Fires TechTV Staff More

Comcast Fires TechTV Staff

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  • The important question... (Score:5, Funny)

    by David E. Smith ( 4570 ) * on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:43PM (#9080391)
    ... so what will become of Playboy's proposed "Women of TechTV" photo shoot? I'm still waiting for Morgan b00bies.

    • Re:The important question... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:47PM (#9080432)
      Hey, if you still look at Playboy, you need to discover the wonderful world of porn, turn off that SPAM fitler, click a few links and wank away!
      • I mean seriously - I'm glad my mail client has the option to supress the loading of remote images. I've had spam that makes my eyes burn :-(

        Click... Click... Click... *ARRGGHH!* *thump*

        I'm learning to love MimeDefang, as I no longer have to field complaints from embarrassed and irritated staff asking how the hell they make this stuff _go_ _away_.

    • Re:The important question... (Score:5, Informative)

      by ClickWir ( 166927 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:56PM (#9080495)
      Well at least we got to see Cat's....

      http://stuff.ubersite.com/10596966192071809/1/Ca tC ropped.jpg

      • Re:The important question... (Score:5, Informative)

        by ClickWir ( 166927 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:01PM (#9080543)
        http://hektik.org/various/cat/index.html

        Might have to go here: http://hektik.org/various/#pictures and then click on Cat's link near the top. :-)
    • All five women involved (Morgan Webb from X-Play, Sarah Lane from The Screen Savers, Melanie Kim from TechLive/Fresh Gear, Laura Swisher from Unscrewed, Cat Schwartz from Call For Help) were sent offers to pose. All five declined.

  • Welcome to TechTV... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Morganth ( 137341 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:43PM (#9080398) Journal
    Direct from Bangalore!

  • Comcast weenie has a great idea... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gleepskip ( 647848 ) * on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080399)
    "Let's buy a great channel and fire everybody!"
    • "Let's buy a great channel and fire everybody!"

      Unfortunately, he screwed up step 1.

    • Re:Comcast weenie has a great idea... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by beakerMeep ( 716990 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:20PM (#9080673)
      The thing that boggles my mind is that they are taking a (relatively) diverse channel and merging it with one (G4) that has such an even smaller niche audience that it only comprised 1 show in techTV's lineup. The various articles around the web make it seem almost egotistical as if comcast would think their video game channel is on par or even better than techTV. Don't get me wrong I think more gaming shows are a Good Thing(TM), it's just that this seems like bad business to me. Why not try and turn the business around if it's not making money?

      • Re:Comcast weenie has a great idea... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by DarkZero ( 516460 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @01:59AM (#9081527)
        The thing that boggles my mind is that they are taking a (relatively) diverse channel and merging it with one (G4) that has such an even smaller niche audience that it only comprised 1 show in techTV's lineup.

        Yeah, that's one of the more ironic parts of this decision. TechTV used to be largely made up of daily content like The Screensavers and Call For Help, which were absolutely useless in reruns a month later ("Oh no! There's a new worm out... hey, that was a month ago!"). For years, they tried to diversify their content so that they could pair those shows up with something that could fill up the rest of their roster with repeatable content. First they tried movies, which failed. Then they tried The Thunderbirds, which didn't last long. Then they finally stumbled upon sci-fi anime, which seems to be working, and paired it with a bunch of new documentary shows that are pretty much hit-or-miss, but don't entirely suck. And now what happens? They're going to become nothing more than a distribution channel for G4, which I'm told has the exact same problem that TechTV had for years -- no repeatable content.

        And now that their scope is going to be much more narrow, changing from "TV for geeks" to "TV for gamers" (a subdivision of "geeks"), what are they going to fill their roster with? A new season of Game Over? Maybe some reruns of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show With Captain Lou Albano?

      • Even funnier (Score:5, Interesting)

        by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Friday May 07, 2004 @04:28AM (#9082036) Homepage
        It isn't just G4 has an even smaller niche audience, it's that G4 has an even smaller niche audience which hates it. I spend time looking at video game news/discussion sites, and G4 seems to be universally reviled as pointless, artificial and just plain stupid among the exact people who appear to be their target audience.

        Obviously what I've seen isn't fully representative of the video game "fan" audience, but the thing is that G4 viewers aren't just a minority of the people I've seen-- they've been totally nonexistent. The most positive thing I've seen said about G4 ever is one person on a message board once who said they liked G4 because it made good "background noise". This as opposed to TechTV, which seems to have a relatively large, diverse, and visible favorable following.

        As a non-cable subscriber, I cannot comment myself on the quality of either channel, since instead of watching television I just play video games and read Slashdot.

    • Re:Comcast weenie has a great idea... (Score:5, Funny)

      by .com b4 .storm ( 581701 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:02AM (#9080881)

      Let's buy a great channel

      Yeah, but they also bought TechTV. Try to keep on topic here. :)

    • Re:Comcast weenie has a great idea... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Epistax ( 544591 ) <epistax@gmail. c o m> on Friday May 07, 2004 @06:26AM (#9082392) Journal
      It's not all THAT bad.
      It's [supersation.com] not [upn.com] like [www.pax.tv] there [qvc.com] are [courttv.com] other [hgtv.com] useless [mtv.com] channels [lifetimetv.com] out [foxnews.com] there [hallmarkchannel.com].

  • Its a good thing comcast didn't buy disney.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by cybrthng ( 22291 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080402) Homepage Journal
    I'd hate to see them fire everyone and relocate it.

  • Too bad... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Patik ( 584959 ) * <cpatik@NoSPAM.gmail.com> on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080404) Homepage Journal
    The Screen Savers was one of the few informational shows that didn't cater to the lowest common denominator or sponsors. The hosts seemed honest with their opinions and they gave good tips. They also had good coverage of OSX and Linux, as well as interviews with people from the FCC and RIAA and other organizations of interest to slashdotters.

    • Re:Too bad... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tekiegreg ( 674773 ) <tekieg1-slashdot@yahoo.com> on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:06PM (#9080592) Homepage Journal
      Yup, and thus it was due to failure :-/

    • Re:Too bad... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by roll_w.it ( 317514 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:21PM (#9080674)
      Yeah, I've been a fan for the last year or so, while there was a lot of stuff that wasn't relevant to me, I learned a lot, and was exposed to things that I hadn't thought were relevant. Kind of nice to hear media slamming MS, or complaining about how hard an install was(away from slashdot anyways).
      Made for great background noise to studying. I'm hoping that some of these people get hired back - maybe another broken show [thebroken.org] soon??? Otherwise, hope someone fills the gap and we get a bit more geek tv.

    • Re:Too bad... (Score:5, Informative)

      by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:05AM (#9080899) Journal
      Personally, I find it a little insulting that Comcast would even think TechTV makes sense to merge with a *gaming channel*.

      Is that really all they think TechTV was --- a bunch of people PLAYING with their computers for fun and entertainment?

      It seems to me TechTV served a few very useful purposes, not the least of which was providing free, quality phone support to callers. (In this day and age of "prices shaved to the bone PCs", the average consumer is pretty much left in the dark if he/she has questions not covered by the instructions that came with a hardware or software product. What options do they get? Call India and have someone rattle off canned answers from a card?)

      Also, I found a number of very informative bits on TechTV over the years that even the most advanced computer user could appreciate. I remember enjoying an interview Leo did with the man who invented the first mouse (had his working prototype made out of wood on the show). I remember an interesting piece they did just recently with the site operator of rootkit.com. The list goes on, but the point is, TechTV wasn't just some show hawking the latest video games. They covered them, of course - but not without balance.

      With the original staff gone, and merging with G4, it sounds to me like it's going to get turned into a big promotional channel for selling video games and related gaming hardware, and will run off anyone just trying to be more productive with their PC, learn more about system security and administration, and so on.

    • Petition, etc... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Shaper of Myths ( 148485 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:19AM (#9080975)
      Not that I think they'll listen, but some folks went to the trouble of setting these up (they are posted on Leo's board). Hey it worked for Star Trek and Family Guy right? =)

      Petition 1 [petitiononline.com]
      Petition 2 [petitiononline.com]
      Petition 3 [petitiononline.com]

      Also a direct link to the Comcast complaint bucket...

      Comcast Feedback [comcast.com]

  • Won't someonebody think about the clueless?! (Score:5, Funny)

    by jesse.k ( 102314 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080405) Homepage
    Dammit, now where are all the clueless newbies going to learn about the all the cool hacker tricks covered in Kevin Rose's Dark Tips?

    Looks like The Man has won yet again!

  • Press Release (Score:5, Informative)

    by Takara ( 711260 ) * on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080406)
    Direct from the G4 press release [g4tv.com], it looks like the only TechTV originals surviving are Anime Unleashed, X-Play, The Screen Savers, Fresh Gear, and Robot Wars. It doesn't say specifically if those are the only TechTV shows to continue or if any of the old staff will keep their position.
    As long as Adam Sessler doesn't come back I won't complain too much.

    • Re:Press Release (Score:5, Insightful)

      by evanbro ( 649048 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:05PM (#9080578)
      I hope they don't dump Tech Live. Slashdot is great for instant coverage, but they did some nice stories on Tech Live; stuff that either wasn't important enough for Slashdot or something like that. It also came on at that perfect "i should do homework but i don't want to" time.

    • Adam's the only reason I watch... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) * on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:45PM (#9080803)
      Adam and X-Play are the only reason I really watch much anymore... I do like tech live from time to time.

      If the channel quality degrades much, it might be the opportunity I needed to move to Voom - as the lack of TechTV was holding me back.

    • Re:Press Release (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Mantorp ( 142371 ) <mantorp 'funny A' gmail.com> on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:05AM (#9080898) Homepage Journal
      No Unscrewed? Martin? Swisher? Noooooooooooo

    • Re:Press Release (Score:3, Insightful)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) *
      Unfortunately, that press release list is worthless because it starts with "such as" so shows named on that list might not survive, and shows not on that list might make it.

      There's really no clue as to which shows are in or out yet...

  • Lets just hope (Score:3, Insightful)

    by SavedLinuXgeeK ( 769306 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:44PM (#9080407) Homepage
    That they fire the employees, and not cancel the show. The show has potential, and could be better spent than running tech support for beginner users. Think of a tv show, that was somewhat equivalent to slashdot, a discussion of new ideas, and even some conflict. The show could even be hosted by a F/OSS and a MS person.

  • Whew. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by modifried ( 605582 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:45PM (#9080408) Homepage
    At least it's only being moved to LA, and not, like.. India.

  • Thanks Comcast (Score:5, Interesting)

    by phisheadrew ( 526202 ) <phisheadrew&cinci,rr,com> on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:45PM (#9080409)
    For taking my favorite channel off the air.

    I'm sure it will be replaced with something highly mediocre. Weren't they thinking of combining G4 and TechTV? Now its just going to be G4? I've personally tried to watch G4 and couldn't do it.

    I don't understand why they would can the entire network.

    Well, now that TechTV is gone, I've got no reason to keep the digital cable around, everything else I want is on basic cable.

    • Re:Thanks Comcast (Score:5, Interesting)

      by sTalking_Goat ( 670565 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:13PM (#9080628) Homepage
      Well, now that TechTV is gone, I've got no reason to keep the digital cable around, everything else I want is on basic cable.

      My sentiments exactly. And seeing as Comcast is my cable company, I'll be sure to mention that to them as I downgrade.

  • Nooooo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Faust7 ( 314817 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:45PM (#9080416) Homepage
    Not Cat Schwartz!

    Oh well, she will live on Photoshop.

  • Guess I'll have to get my news somewhere else (Score:3, Funny)

    by Fubar411 ( 562908 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:48PM (#9080441)
    http://www.nakednews.com [nakednews.com]
  • From the FAQ [g4tv.com]:

    Q: How does the merger expand G4's subscriber growth?
    A: The merged network will be available to 44 million cable and satellite customers, representing every major MSO and satellite provider (28 million cable and 16 million satellite). G4, launched in April, 2002, is currently available in 15 million homes in 47 of the nation's top 50 television markets.

    Q: What MSO's and satellite companies will carry the combined network?
    A: Comcast; Time Warner; Mediacom; Insight; Cablevision; Charter; Adelphia; Cox; Cable One; Dish; and DirecTV.

    Q: Who will be the network's chief executive?
    A: Charles Hirschhorn, currently founder and CEO of G4, will oversee the merged network as CEO.

    Q: Will the two services run independently of each other or be immediately combined?
    A: The two channels will merge into one network. In the meantime, both G4 and TechTV will continue to air as independent channels, pending customary regulatory approvals underway.

    Q: Where will the network be headquartered?
    A: The merged network will be headquartered in Los Angeles.

    Programming:

    Q: What will a typical programming day look like?
    A: The merged network will be the nation's premier 24/7 television network all about video games, technology and the gamer lifestyle. The G4 programming day will showcase many existing G4 and TechTV series such as G4's ICONS; PULSE; JUDGMENT DAY; PLAYERS, and CHEAT! as well as TechTV's ANIME UNLEASHED; X-PLAY; SCREEN SAVERS; FRESH GEAR; and ROBOT WARS. G4 will also premiere new original programming which will be announced at a later date.

    Q: How many hours of original programming will the merged network produce?
    A: After the networks merge, G4 will air more than 20 series and 800 episodes per year. New programs continue to be in development.
  • Just thinking out loud here... A Slashdot Channel would actually be pretty informative, covering lots of different aspects. Maybe even have guest Slashdoters invited to cover stories not covered already on the front page.

    Then again, with TechTV's fate, maybe it wouldn't be such a success afterall.
  • Comcast drone #1: Geeks already don't like us, right?
    Comcast drone #2: Right.
    Comcast drone #1: Something to do with the DMCA, no?
    Comcast drone #2: Most likely.
    Comcast drone #1: But they all like this TechTV show, right?
    Comcast drone #2: Seems like it, yes.
    Comcast drone #1: I have an idea....let's let the entire cast go and relocate to LA!
    Comcast drone #2: Brilliant!

  • Enough with the overreactions (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AvantLegion ( 595806 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:53PM (#9080478) Journal
    This doesn't mean that none of the shows or hosts will be brought back. It means all existing contracts are getting torn up, and Comcast may opt to bring some people back on their own terms.

    But, indeed, the merged network's headquarters will be in LA, where G4 has been headquartered. No surprise there.

    Still, does anyone think that Comcast is so stupid as to spend all this money on a network, and then get rid of everything that makes people watch it?

    • Re:Enough with the overreactions (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 511pf ( 685691 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:02PM (#9080561)
      Yes. They bought TechTV to get rid of their competition.

    • Re:Enough with the overreactions (Score:4, Interesting)

      by rusty0101 ( 565565 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:09PM (#9080609) Homepage Journal
      I may not qualify as "anyone", but as it happens, Yes I do believe Comcast is that stupid.

      They have effectively told their employees: "Hey, we love what you have done. We don't need you, and we are disolving this channel you have created. Some of you can apply for your old jobs back, but the descriptions may change, andy you will have to move to LA. It's been great working with you."

      Tell me that _You_ would feel that moving from SF to LA on the possibility that you _might_ get a job with the same title as you had before, is a good idea.

    • Stupid enough to cancel the wrong channel. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:54PM (#9080850)
      I had G4 when it first came out. Hell, I got a cable box to watch it I was so excited. I can't even describe how many problems they had, from lack of programming, to robot hosts who obviously could give less than 2 shits about gaming, to just insanely pointless programming (That MMORPG show with the HAL9000 voice over). I mean, 8 hours of programming cycled a week. How many times can you watch the same bad show a week? Technically 21. Pathetic.

      Want to merge G4 and TechTV? Fine. Kill G4 and take the maybe 2 hours of programming, fix it, and bring it to TechTV, the better channel.

      Instead, they do the opposite. They kill the wrong channel and basically put the staff that makes TechTV in a position to not want to migrate.

      Comcast should be brown-nosing Morgan Webb and Leo LaPorte like they have gold stuck up their asses. Leo is a pretty smart tech guy that is very personable, easy to understand, and loves his job (none of which are very common in the tech field lately).

      Morgan has a rabid army of unsexed fanboys that would pay an extra 10 bucks a month just to see her for 10 minutes a week. Sad, but true.

      Are we over-reacting? No.

      Because the deal hasn't even went through and Comcast already did the exact opposite of what they SHOULD have done.
    • Comcast is my current cable company and broadband provider. Customer service and quality for both are horrible. The previous owner, AT&T, was actually quite brilliant by comparison. All operations at Comcast, down to the last cable splicer, seem to be run from a very high level by bean counters who don't know or care anything about media, the internet, entertainment, hardware, or any of the other things you might expect from a cable/broadband company. Keep in mind that Comcast was the first company to

  • truly a shame (Score:5, Interesting)

    by linux_author ( 691402 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:54PM (#9080480)
    - i was on TechTV a couple years ago... the publisher flew me out to SF and i got to take a cab to the studio... - the TechTV folks were very friendly, and Leo, et al. had a great crew... fast-paced, lots of good content, and an on-line chatter available in the studio to ask and respond to questions... - but of course, i'd expect nothing less from Comcast, one of the worst and most expensive cable companies in existence...

  • whats going to happen to their website? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by microcars ( 708223 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:54PM (#9080483) Homepage
    TechTV.com [techtv.com]

    Since I watch the Screensavers I usually go to the Screensavers website and look up stuff in the show notes. Sometimes months later... There's alot of good info in there.

    /starts downloading the entire TechTV website.....

    • mirror (Score:5, Interesting)

      by hiroshi912681 ( 589840 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:23AM (#9080998)
      Good point, someone DOES need to mirror their content before their site is possibly killed off. There's a plethora of information that should never die off. I've still gone back to look for things on their Internet Tonight links.

      Internet Tonight... wow... I miss ZDTV. =(

  • From the Wikipedia perspective (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Raul654 ( 453029 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:55PM (#9080493) Homepage
    Just for the record, (as a wikipedia admin) the TechTV people vandalized our article on monkeypox [wikipedia.org] live on the air, and it has been a vandalism-magnet ever since. But it is a shame that they are cancelled - although I don't get them where I live, from what I hear, they did some good stuff.

  • Morgan Webb has been offered a new position... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 06, 2004 @10:57PM (#9080508)
    ...on all fours, on my bed!

    Come on, Morgan, I'll throw in comprehensive healthcare! Whaddaya say? :-)
  • I'm wondering how many of the Slashdot crowd actually watched Tech TV?

    I never subscribed to it, over here in Canada, but watched the free promotional period. It was certainly different from the typical stuff on mainstream tech shows. I wasn't a big fan of the channel since I am not into tech as much as the rest of you here.

    I guess this is the last remnant of the dot-com boom :( I still think there is room for a technology-oriented television channel but not yet. I don't know about USA but here in Canada, Tech TV was a digital channel so until digital boxes are almost standard, I don't expect these digital channels to take off...

    Sivaram Velauthapillai

  • Finally, more bandwidth for World's Scariest... (Score:5, Funny)

    by potus98 ( 741836 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:02PM (#9080554) Journal

    Finally! More broadcast bandwidth for the World's Scariest Reality Midget High School Survival Makeover Elimidate Police Fear Mini-series.

    Now if we could only wipe out those damn persistant channels of informative crap like PBS, Discovery, and that other "high-brow" crap. Maybe we'll finally get a whole channel dedicated to quality shows like "The View" and "American Idol".

    • Discovery

      The Discovery channel has already been eliminated as a source of "high brow crap". At least, I can't stand to watch it as I usually feel my intelligence is being insulted, only unlike the pap on, say, CBS, the Discovery channel has the audacity to think it's teaching me something.

      TLC, Discovery, and Animal Planet have already been mostly toasted. (Who the hell would have guessed that the Animal Planet could tune into the Most Extreme meme? Or, perhaps more accurately, tried to tune in.) That l

  • Slashdot TV (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Tekoneiric ( 590239 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:04PM (#9080573) Journal
    How about Slashdot getting the funding to create a Slashdot TV channel and hire the fired Tech TV staff. ;)

  • Leo's Radio Show... (Score:5, Informative)

    by huchida ( 764848 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:06PM (#9080590)
    For those who aren't aware, Leo's got a weekend radio show. [kfi640.com]

    That's Los Angeles, but they do stream (Realplayer, naturally.)

    • He mentioned on air that he does the show out of San Fran somewhere. I can't quite remember if he said he did it in his house or not, but either way he doesn't do it in LA. Although, you are right. The show is broadcast from LA.

      • Re:Leo's Radio Show... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:24AM (#9081000)
        Most of the time, the show originates from an old barn renovated into a radio studio on his property but just outside of his house. An ISDN line is used to relay his voice back to the studio so he can hear his callers and get the screening data from the producers.

        The show presently is only heard on KFI 640 in Los Angeles, but that station streams its content on its website [kfi640.com]. KFI is owned by Clear Channel, so there is a possiblity that the show may be distributed by the Premire Radio Networks if it catches on. Right now's a rating sweep month... so we'll know shortly how well he's doing.

  • Flagship Show Already Ruined (Score:5, Insightful)

    by metalligoth ( 672285 ) <metalligoth.gmail@com> on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:12PM (#9080627)
    As far as I'm concerned, the flagship show on TechTV was The Screen Savers. When the show had Leo, Martin, and Morgan still, it was the best show on television.

    I understand the desire to move successful people to their own shows, but after Leo moved off of TSS and they were left with Patrick (who is so-so), and then Kevin Rose with his elitist attitude and his little girlfriend (can't even remember her name since she is so annoying) that knows jack nothing about computers, well, I can barely stand to watch the show.

    Frankly, I don't really watch it more than once a week. I used to watch it daily. That is impressive simply because I don't watch TV. Last year I didn't watch television at all for six months, after that I only watched it to see international perspective of the War in Iraq.

    As such, the only reason I have for cable is TechTV. If they kill it (which they already pretty much have) then I will get rid of my cable TV in a heartbeat. Comcast is insane.

    Then again, I can hope that someone else will see the potential it had, and do a TSS style show the way it was meant to be done.

    Leo, Martin, and Morgan all act like people I hang out with (I'm more in Morgan/Martin's age group, but I know people in Leo's age group that I talk with about technology all the time). Kevin Rose acts like someone I'd never speak with about anything in person. I don't know the guy personally or anything, but I really feel that TSS is ruined without Leo there, and that it was even better than that before they broke up the staff.

    The question is: did Comcast kill TechTV, or with it's flagship show in tatters, was it already dead?

    • Re:Flagship Show Already Ruined (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Elf-friend ( 554128 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:50PM (#9080835)
      I used to watch it daily too, and I have to say TSS was headed downhill well before Leo left. IMHO, the turning point was when they cut it to an hour from 90 min. After that, it was much faster-paced; and, instead of cutting out some of the fluff spots, they cut out or rushed a lot of the meaty or particularly geeky parts instead. In addition, there was no longer room for the same size cast as before, thus Martin and Morgan were eventually out.

      It's really too bad: TSS was a fine show when it was a leisurely, 90-min. affair. After they sped up the pace, it just wasn't the same show.

      Perhaps, if one were so inclined, one might even trace the beginning of the downward spiral to the move to the new set, or to Megan's departure.

  • The real reason... ;) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by necro2607 ( 771790 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:15PM (#9080641)
    Hmm, I think we can see why at least one employee would be "let go"... Reading your coworkers' AIM conversations [techtv.com] and talking about it on TV would probably do it (watch the video clip). Stumbling their Wifi access points [techtv.com] might have something to do with it, too...

  • Another Link (Score:3, Informative)

    by 89cents ( 589228 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:16PM (#9080643)
    News.com Article [com.com]

  • This is horrible! (Score:4, Funny)

    by lifebouy ( 115193 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:18PM (#9080653) Journal
    I didn't like Leo at first. He's got the whole Chester the Molester thing going, and at first glance, he seems to have a kind of superior attitude. But after a while he grows on you, like a fungus. The whole crew (Leo included) is awesome. I would have liked to see more geeky shows on techtv, like the GNews with Richard Stallman, or a nice studio production of The Linux Show, where you could see them bantering ala the Howard Stern show (but for geeks). I am really sad that they are getting such a bad shake.

    I tell you the truth. If Stargate gets canceled, I'm giving up on TV.

    Next someone will be telling me that Slashdot doesn't really run news, or that they got bought by OSDN. I'd be downhill from there, for sure. Oh, wait...

  • What about DirecTV? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mr_zorg ( 259994 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:18PM (#9080658)
    I wonder what will happen to the channel's availability on DirecTV once they complete the merger... Do you think Comcast will continue to make the channel available to one of their biggest competitors?

    • Re:What about DirecTV? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:27AM (#9081021)
      Comcast didn't quite get 100% of the network... Echostar still holds a stake in the network so we're sure that the resulting station will still be on Dish Network. The post-merger network will also inherit TechTV's contract with DirecTV that should keep it there for at least a few years.

      FCC rules require that any cable-company owned network that is not exclusively delivered by landlines must be made available to other signal providers without discrimination. So, it's not likely they can play keep-away like they do so with some of their regional news and sports channels.

  • Low ratings might just be the reason! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Saeed al-Sahaf ( 665390 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:20PM (#9080669) Homepage
    A lot of comments here seem to be bashing Comcast for getting rid of TechTV with various sinister reasons behind the show's demise, but I also a significant number of "haven't watched it in 5 months, if ever" type of comments too. Could it be that TechTV had really low ratings and wasn't cost-effective to keep going? Naa...

  • CNET story (Score:4, Informative)

    by $exyNerdie ( 683214 ) on Thursday May 06, 2004 @11:36PM (#9080752) Homepage Journal

    CNET story is here: TechTV lays off San Francisco staff [com.com]

  • Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Trolling4Dollars ( 627073 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:11AM (#9080931) Journal
    I can't say I'll miss it. I tried watching TechTV on many occasions, but it was just a little too basic. Most of the shows were nothing more than product ads. I was hoping for something more accessible like scripting and programming. A little Perl, a little C, maybe some Bash and Emacs tips, throw in a little CMD and WScript, even some VB. But most of the shows seemed like a cross between the Home Shopping Network and a ...For Dummies book. I can't stand the Thunderbirds, so that didn't grab me. Besides, that's what Cartoon Network and SciFi are more suited to. The pseudo-scientific shows they had weren't much more than "look at how great these companies are at innovating"!. Not too useful. Now, if they would have run Cosmos (with updates), maybe the original UK version of Battlebots, Dr. Who and had some hardcore programming shows, it would have struck a chord a little more.

  • Less newsworhty than it seems... (Score:4, Informative)

    by LostCluster ( 625375 ) * on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:15AM (#9080953)
    Everybody got notices today that says at face value that 60 days from now their jobs won't exist. However, that doesn't promise that everybody's a goner...

    See, the WARN act requires that when a downsizing of this scale is going to happen, the employer must give 60 days notice to everybody they're letting go. However, imagine the moral at an office where 2/3 of the people get the notice and the other 1/3 don't... fighting is sure to ensue during the two months before the cutback.

    So, in reality... today's news doesn't really tell us what Comcast is planning. They very well could keep the shows alive, but send the jobs who don't affect the content (PR people, master control techs, salespeople, etc.) to LA.

    The real answer will come exactly 60 days from now...

  • My fifteen minutes... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Prime Mover ( 149173 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @12:49AM (#9081179)
    I work (still) at TechTV, in the IT department. AFAIK, next to nothing from the website is being kept. I know that G4 posted a job for an Oracle DBA to transition our DB to their MS SQL. We contacted them on it and they took the job down (google cache: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:E3Q1eTpUtU0J:ww w.entertainmentcareers.net/jobid.asp%3Fjcode%3D229 34+G4+DBA&hl=en )
    A PHB at G4 has his blog at http://hardwarewhore.com/ Classy, no? Not hard to see that they are going to leave a big, flaming divot in the ground.

  • The new Screen Savers is only so-so anyway (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cubicle_cowboy ( 521716 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @01:00AM (#9081250)
    I used to watch this show fanatically when it was just Kate and Leo, but as soon as Kate left it just wasn't the same. It seems like since then they've just paraded in a whole slew of different people and none of them ever really stuck with me. Sure, a lot of the new girls are cute, but few of them seem to have Kate's personality.

    As far as G4 goes, I don't see why so many people knock it. To me it has the same feeling TechTV used to have (when it was still ZDTV or whatever). For the most part, the hosts aren't just pretty puppets, but actual gamers and in some cases game industry insiders (the guys on Judgement Day). Also, it's nice to see what some games look like on an actual TV screen in motion instead of just as screen shots on the web. Lastly, Icons is a really great show. It's nice hearing about video game history from the people who lived it. Anyway, enough ranting, these rays aren't going to trace themselves :)

  • Unpublihed picture (Score:5, Funny)

    by omega9 ( 138280 ) on Friday May 07, 2004 @07:53AM (#9082817)
    I found a picture of the new TechTV staff [e-inclusionsite.org]

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