AlanBarber.Org
Friday, May 07, 2004
TechTV is no more...
First some background...TechTV is a technology channel. They have shows that cover the whole gambit. Shows that do nothing but show off cool new gadgets and toys, a show about video games, two shows that let viewer call in and ask the hosts tech questions, etc, etc. It's not the best quality I'll admit. They only have maybe a half dozen shows and rest of the time they air tech related shows from the BBC which is a bit annoying. Plus, they do dumb down the info so beginners and tech newbies can learn and understand. That's fine though. It's still good watching even for us tech experts.
G4 is a gaming channel. It's nothing but shows on computer and console games. Problem is its all trash. They're hosted by obnoxious asshats and the production quality is sub-par. The failure in the channel is that's its no fun to watch TV about gaming all day. Video games are about playing not watching. After like the first week that G4 started everyone got bored of it and stopped watching.
Comcast cable bought TechTV a few months back and merged it with their technology channel G4. For the last few months they've been separate and preparing for some type of merger but no one knew what to expect.
Well it's official today as Leo Laporte, a cast member of several TechTV shows, posted on his blog, The Laporte Report, that G4 was closing up the TechTV shop in San Fran and just gave everyone a 60 days notice.
The good news is 100 of the current jobs are being posted for any that want to relocate to LA. But they still have to renegotiate contacts, move to LA, etc. So, you have to wonder how many of the staff will actually go through with it.
This is why Comcast bought TechTV. TechTV is a success and has a strong loyal fan base. G4 has nothing. But G4 is Comcast's baby and TechTV is the competition so obviously they bought TechTV for the sole purpose of removing it. The 100 jobs being offered in LA is just an appeasement to fans.
In a few months time channel 354(DirecTV) will no longer be known as TechTV but G4tv. It will be a craptastic channel full of hosts that try to act cool and hip but are just retarded and lame. The shows will lack substance because it's cheaper to fill an hour slot with worthless hype and trash that spend time and money doing something worthwhile.
I never really watch TechTV that much. I'll catch some of the shows on the weekends when I'm bored. I usually catch the reruns of The Screen Savers the next day while I eat lunch. The Screen Savers is taped live every night and they always have something interesting to watch though. Modding X-Boxes, building high end computers, interviewing people in technology, etc. You usually get 15-20 minutes of good content for the hour show. Rest of the time is pretty boring. They do let people call in and ask questions which is very cool. The questions are always pretty easy stuff but it's still nice because the fans get to interact with the hosts live.
I'm just ticked off TechTV is getting the boot. If anything it should be the other way around. They should keep TechTV and incorporate G4 into the TechTV lineup. They could finally dump some of those BBC shows and have real content. However, that would be too obvious and logical. Why do what would be popular and successful when you can just screw things up. You have to remember that the people in charge are the same people that keep making reality tv shows, stopped showing music videos on MTV, cancel good shows like Futurama, Family Guy, Farscape, Keen Eddie, etc and crank out crappy mini-series like 10.5 on NBC. They live in their own little world and have clue what mainstream TV Viewers are like.
Sometimes TV execs just piss me off so much!
on 05/07/2004 at 11:40 AM
Comcast is the ruiner of good things. First, they bought off my local cable TV provider which had a lot of channels just paying for basic. Second, they tried to buy off Disney! If those bastards bought Disney then it would produce inferior entertainment. Third, Comcast is an inferior cable Internet service (except the 3 MB bandwidth). Unstable and the tech support sucks. Last, who the hell are going to watch Comcast’s crappy show? And what happens to TechTV’s website?
Comcast sucks.