Osh Kosh B'iotch
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Does this mean I won't have TechTV soon because I have Cablevision? Bah.
G4 swallowing up TechTV
- Thread starter Osh Kosh B'iotch
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Does this mean I won't have TechTV soon because I have Cablevision? Bah.
craven_fiend
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If I am right, this should mean that everyone, not just those with comcast, will have tech tv turned in G4. i assume this because when something is folded, company wise, it no longer exists. someone please correct me if my thinking is wrong. and if it is, i apologize.
ElwoodCuse
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Does this mean G4TV will now have more than 5 hours of new programming each week?
"Coming up next on Judgement Day, Vice City is here! We'll tell you how the hottest thing on the PS2 right now stacks up..."
"Later on G4TV.com, Tina and Laura show off the new Xbox controller-S, and tell you if smaller really is better..."
"Coming up next on Judgement Day, Vice City is here! We'll tell you how the hottest thing on the PS2 right now stacks up..."
"Later on G4TV.com, Tina and Laura show off the new Xbox controller-S, and tell you if smaller really is better..."
suprsaiyanMAX
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I get both networks now but the programming is really awful. Like Elwood said everything they talk abou tis from many months ago. And if that's not the case than it's just mindless programming, like Players with "celebrity" gamers talking about how they think they know a lot about games.
suprsaiyanMAX
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I concur with that statement.
I kinda like Tech TV. The Screensavers is alright, though only for entertainment. And if nothing else, x-play shows in-game footage of lots of games I haven't tried before. Most of the jokes on the show are pretty lame, but every once in a while I genuinely laugh at it. And Morgan is easier on the eyes (and ears) than Kate was.
MjC
MjC
I don't think I've ever watched Tech TV. When I visited my grandmother, she had G4, and I watched it a lot then, but I did notice the repetitive nature of the programming.
We have cable now, however, and I do turn on G4 every now and then. I don't follow any of the shows, really, but I enjoy watching some of them [most notably, where they actually review or demo games, I too could care less about watching 'celebrites' game.]
And regarding repeating schedules--unfortunately, it's not just G4. Many of the more target-oriented cable channels play and replay and replay and show 'encore presentations.' Some of the networks do too, but its more obvious on the mid-range cable channels.
For instance:
I just did a search on TVGuide.com for 'Trading Spaces' one of my wife's favorite shows, and one that I have gotten to despise to the core of my being.
Between right now, 1430 EST on Thursday, and 0100 Thursday 4/1/04, this show is on at least 46 times. It is on a couple channels, TLC, Discovery HD, and Discovery Kids, but come on! If I look at just TLC, it's on 30 times in before 0100 next Thursday. That's 30 hours out of about 144. Fully 20% of TLC's programming time is based on that one tv show. And many of those are 'encore presentations', or what I used to call, 'reruns.' Damn, I thought it was on a lot, I never analyzed it though. That's RIDICULOUS! We should get a discount, since we're paying a monthly fee, and getting much less than one month's worth of programming. G4's programming schedule doesn't look so bad anymore...
We have cable now, however, and I do turn on G4 every now and then. I don't follow any of the shows, really, but I enjoy watching some of them [most notably, where they actually review or demo games, I too could care less about watching 'celebrites' game.]
And regarding repeating schedules--unfortunately, it's not just G4. Many of the more target-oriented cable channels play and replay and replay and show 'encore presentations.' Some of the networks do too, but its more obvious on the mid-range cable channels.
For instance:
I just did a search on TVGuide.com for 'Trading Spaces' one of my wife's favorite shows, and one that I have gotten to despise to the core of my being.
Between right now, 1430 EST on Thursday, and 0100 Thursday 4/1/04, this show is on at least 46 times. It is on a couple channels, TLC, Discovery HD, and Discovery Kids, but come on! If I look at just TLC, it's on 30 times in before 0100 next Thursday. That's 30 hours out of about 144. Fully 20% of TLC's programming time is based on that one tv show. And many of those are 'encore presentations', or what I used to call, 'reruns.' Damn, I thought it was on a lot, I never analyzed it though. That's RIDICULOUS! We should get a discount, since we're paying a monthly fee, and getting much less than one month's worth of programming. G4's programming schedule doesn't look so bad anymore...
ElwoodCuse
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Coming from the sky, comes a fearful cry.. COBRA! COBRA!
Creatures of the Night, Evil taking flight, COBRA! COBRA!
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, panic is spreading far and wide!
The theme song sequence for the GI Joe movie is the best animated thing ever.
EVER.
Yes, ever.
Creatures of the Night, Evil taking flight, COBRA! COBRA!
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, panic is spreading far and wide!
The theme song sequence for the GI Joe movie is the best animated thing ever.
EVER.
Yes, ever.
JSweeney
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[quote name='ElwoodCuse']Coming from the sky, comes a fearful cry.. COBRA! COBRA!
Creatures of the Night, Evil taking flight, COBRA! COBRA!
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, panic is spreading far and wide!
The theme song sequence for the GI Joe movie is the best animated thing ever.
EVER.
Yes, ever.[/quote]
I know it is. Why do you think I qouted it?
Creatures of the Night, Evil taking flight, COBRA! COBRA!
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, panic is spreading far and wide!
The theme song sequence for the GI Joe movie is the best animated thing ever.
EVER.
Yes, ever.[/quote]
I know it is. Why do you think I qouted it?
XboxMaster
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Hmmm, I've always been mad because I don't have G4 here, but from what yall say, it sucks. So I guess I'm not really missing out on anything?
suprsaiyanMAX
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Only if you call hearing news and reviews from months ago, and then repeating it over and over in the course of the week's programming missing something.
Gothic Walrus
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From what I've seen, G4 sucks. I don't have nor want it.
What I'd like to see happen is both channels merge as TechTV. It would be great if most of TechTV's original programming was kept - for the most part, TechTV's live programming is entertaining, and occasionally helpful. If they have to add in G4's crappy programming, throw it in on Saturday morning.
Then again, that's all just wishful thinking...
What I'd like to see happen is both channels merge as TechTV. It would be great if most of TechTV's original programming was kept - for the most part, TechTV's live programming is entertaining, and occasionally helpful. If they have to add in G4's crappy programming, throw it in on Saturday morning.
Then again, that's all just wishful thinking...
ok ur all dumbasses, G4 is the best channel ever and judgement day is proably there best show. I tend not to watch Tech Tv much but I hope it doesnt fold because then that means no more morgan webb *sigh* Well so yeah G4 is awesome except players and portal.
Gothic Walrus
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[quote name='tyecko']ok ur all dumbasses, G4 is the best channel ever and judgement day is proably there best show. I tend not to watch Tech Tv much but I hope it doesnt fold because then that means no more morgan webb *sigh* Well so yeah G4 is awesome except players and portal.[/quote]
Sheesh...aren't we allowed to have an opinion anymore?
...
Wait...this is the Internet. Forgot where I was for a minute. Never mind.
Sheesh...aren't we allowed to have an opinion anymore?
...
Wait...this is the Internet. Forgot where I was for a minute. Never mind.
Mr. Anderson
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If I'm gonna take a break from video games to watch tv, it might as well be a gaming channel. I love G4, even if it isn't as hardcore as I would like it to be.
MorganWebbLover
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Comcast Corp. got its TechTV on Thursday.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, bought San Francisco's TechTV from billionaire Paul Allen, and announced it would merge the channel with its G4, a cable channel devoted to video games.
Sources close to the deal pegged the sale price at below $300 million.
TechTV, the cable channel devoted to all things technological, will lose its identity, as the deal appears orchestrated to catapult the younger G4 into the millions of homes TechTV now reaches.
"This is a teardown," said John Higgins, deputy editor of the trade magazine Broadcasting and Cable. In real estate, he said, "you buy the house, tear it down, and build a new house on it."
"They're buying this for the value of the land, not the value of the building on it," Higgins said. "It's very hard for a startup network like G4 to secure distribution. (With this deal), they can buy it overnight."
G4, which Comcast started in 2002, reaches 13.3 million homes, predominantly via digital cable. TechTV, which was begun in 1998 as ZDTV -- the broadcast arm of the once-powerful tech publisher Ziff Davis -- now reaches 43 million homes, via digital and analog cable as well as satellite.
Those figures, however, don't necessarily translate into viewers, and in the increasingly fragmented world of cable television, TechTV's ratings were minuscule, Higgins said.
In Higgins' view, TechTV sold cheaply -- less than $8 for every subscriber reached. By contrast, Cablevision sold Bravo, another channel with low ratings, to NBC in November 2002, for $1.25 billion, roughly $20 per subscriber.
EchoStar's Dish Network, which was a minority owner of TechTV, will maintain its stake in the newly merged company.
Officials wouldn't discuss how many layoffs are expected, although Charles Hirschhorn, the founder and CEO of G4, who will run the combined company, told The Chronicle, "There's lots of overlap."
TechTV employs about 300 people, and G4 employs about 200. Hirschhorn said he does not yet know how many people will work for the combined company. "Common sense dictates it's not going to be 500," he said.
The new company will be based in Los Angeles, the home of G4.
Hirschhorn, 46, a former movie producer and for 10 years an executive at the Walt Disney Co., founded G4 when he saw the burgeoning business of video games.
The gaming industry now outsells even Hollywood movies, earning $28 billion globally in 2002, according to a fact sheet G4 released Thursday.
"I couldn't help but notice that video games were the fastest-growing entertainment form in the country, year after year after year," Hirschhorn said.
TechTV officials declined to comment on the merger, other than to issue a brief statement from Joe Gillespie, the chief operating officer.
"Last year, we began investigating ways we could take our business to the next level," Gillespie said in the statement. "Since then, TechTV has seen tremendous growth in terms of ratings and ad revenue. Today, we are pleased to say Comcast has stepped up to build upon this growth. By combining the resources of TechTV and G4, Comcast will join two complementary brands and create a smart and edgy powerhouse channel for the tech savvy, Internet generation."
TechTV, which once employed 450 people, has undergone several rounds of layoffs and programming changes in the years since the dot-com bust wiped out many of its advertisers.
In 2001, it introduced an ambitious all-day news format called "TechLive, " designed to make the station the CNBC for technology news. All that remains of "TechLive" now is a half-hour show.
"They were pouring all their money into day parts, where their audience wasn't home to watch it," said Higgins, the trade journalist. "It was a silly strategy on its face."
Higgins did praise TechTV's monumental accomplishment of getting its programming into 43 million homes.
Many cable operators viewed the content of TechTV as something that could lure early adopters to buy new digital delivery.
Now, under Comcast's ownership, that audience should expand, he said, noting that Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, serves 21 million homes.
Comcast claims that it will not force its local cable outlets to take G4 just because the parent company owns it.
Unlike other cable operators, Comcast does not own any major cable channels, although that would change if its proposed hostile takeover of the Walt Disney Co. is successful.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TechTV
-- Founded: 1998 (as ZDTV)
-- Based in: San Francisco
-- Employees: About 300
-- Top shows: "Call for Help" with Leo Laporte; "Robot Wars"
-- Received in: 43 million homes
G4 Network
-- Founded: 2002 by Comcast Corp.
-- Based in: Los Angeles
-- Employees: About 200 (including regular freelancers)
-- Top shows: "Blister," "Game Gods," "Cheat!"
-- Received in: 13.3 million homes
I know most of you could care less about TechTV but it's my favorit network and has most if not all of my favorit Tv shows . I've been watching TechTV for almost 7 years now when it was still called ZD Tv and only had a few shows. Now that their Merging with G4 what's going to happen to all my shows Xplay , The Screen Savers , Call for help , Unscrewed , Tech Live , Anime unleashed , Nerd Nation and Fresh Gear ? Most of all Moragn Webb and all the cool people that work at TechTV ?
Tell me what you all think about this Merger and if you a fan of G4.
Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, bought San Francisco's TechTV from billionaire Paul Allen, and announced it would merge the channel with its G4, a cable channel devoted to video games.
Sources close to the deal pegged the sale price at below $300 million.
TechTV, the cable channel devoted to all things technological, will lose its identity, as the deal appears orchestrated to catapult the younger G4 into the millions of homes TechTV now reaches.
"This is a teardown," said John Higgins, deputy editor of the trade magazine Broadcasting and Cable. In real estate, he said, "you buy the house, tear it down, and build a new house on it."
"They're buying this for the value of the land, not the value of the building on it," Higgins said. "It's very hard for a startup network like G4 to secure distribution. (With this deal), they can buy it overnight."
G4, which Comcast started in 2002, reaches 13.3 million homes, predominantly via digital cable. TechTV, which was begun in 1998 as ZDTV -- the broadcast arm of the once-powerful tech publisher Ziff Davis -- now reaches 43 million homes, via digital and analog cable as well as satellite.
Those figures, however, don't necessarily translate into viewers, and in the increasingly fragmented world of cable television, TechTV's ratings were minuscule, Higgins said.
In Higgins' view, TechTV sold cheaply -- less than $8 for every subscriber reached. By contrast, Cablevision sold Bravo, another channel with low ratings, to NBC in November 2002, for $1.25 billion, roughly $20 per subscriber.
EchoStar's Dish Network, which was a minority owner of TechTV, will maintain its stake in the newly merged company.
Officials wouldn't discuss how many layoffs are expected, although Charles Hirschhorn, the founder and CEO of G4, who will run the combined company, told The Chronicle, "There's lots of overlap."
TechTV employs about 300 people, and G4 employs about 200. Hirschhorn said he does not yet know how many people will work for the combined company. "Common sense dictates it's not going to be 500," he said.
The new company will be based in Los Angeles, the home of G4.
Hirschhorn, 46, a former movie producer and for 10 years an executive at the Walt Disney Co., founded G4 when he saw the burgeoning business of video games.
The gaming industry now outsells even Hollywood movies, earning $28 billion globally in 2002, according to a fact sheet G4 released Thursday.
"I couldn't help but notice that video games were the fastest-growing entertainment form in the country, year after year after year," Hirschhorn said.
TechTV officials declined to comment on the merger, other than to issue a brief statement from Joe Gillespie, the chief operating officer.
"Last year, we began investigating ways we could take our business to the next level," Gillespie said in the statement. "Since then, TechTV has seen tremendous growth in terms of ratings and ad revenue. Today, we are pleased to say Comcast has stepped up to build upon this growth. By combining the resources of TechTV and G4, Comcast will join two complementary brands and create a smart and edgy powerhouse channel for the tech savvy, Internet generation."
TechTV, which once employed 450 people, has undergone several rounds of layoffs and programming changes in the years since the dot-com bust wiped out many of its advertisers.
In 2001, it introduced an ambitious all-day news format called "TechLive, " designed to make the station the CNBC for technology news. All that remains of "TechLive" now is a half-hour show.
"They were pouring all their money into day parts, where their audience wasn't home to watch it," said Higgins, the trade journalist. "It was a silly strategy on its face."
Higgins did praise TechTV's monumental accomplishment of getting its programming into 43 million homes.
Many cable operators viewed the content of TechTV as something that could lure early adopters to buy new digital delivery.
Now, under Comcast's ownership, that audience should expand, he said, noting that Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, serves 21 million homes.
Comcast claims that it will not force its local cable outlets to take G4 just because the parent company owns it.
Unlike other cable operators, Comcast does not own any major cable channels, although that would change if its proposed hostile takeover of the Walt Disney Co. is successful.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TechTV
-- Founded: 1998 (as ZDTV)
-- Based in: San Francisco
-- Employees: About 300
-- Top shows: "Call for Help" with Leo Laporte; "Robot Wars"
-- Received in: 43 million homes
G4 Network
-- Founded: 2002 by Comcast Corp.
-- Based in: Los Angeles
-- Employees: About 200 (including regular freelancers)
-- Top shows: "Blister," "Game Gods," "Cheat!"
-- Received in: 13.3 million homes
I know most of you could care less about TechTV but it's my favorit network and has most if not all of my favorit Tv shows . I've been watching TechTV for almost 7 years now when it was still called ZD Tv and only had a few shows. Now that their Merging with G4 what's going to happen to all my shows Xplay , The Screen Savers , Call for help , Unscrewed , Tech Live , Anime unleashed , Nerd Nation and Fresh Gear ? Most of all Moragn Webb and all the cool people that work at TechTV ?
Tell me what you all think about this Merger and if you a fan of G4.
Gothic Walrus
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doraemonkerpal
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i used to watch zdtv a long time ago, but then i switched to digital and no longer get it for free i miss it! i wonder how good the new techtv is?
i miss it! i wonder how good the new techtv is?
SneakyPenguin
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its gonna suck. i like tech tv. its one of my fave channels. this seems like it may kill the channel completely.
MorganWebbLover
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More importantly what about Morgan Webb ?
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=106032#106032
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=106032#106032
Renzokuken
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Oh no i hate G4...only shows i watch is the specials,blister,and g4tv...
Sn0brawler
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Wether or not g4 sucks, I still enjoy watching gaming themed television. I like the competitions they show, in particular, ther "Halo Championship:" was pretty fun to watch, despite the crappy anouncers. While I dont currently get g4 (a friend does) I think I get tech tv, and for me, personally, this would be a better use of a channel.
I watch G4, and you can tell it is a new channel with a low budget, but some of their shows aren't bad...I watch G4TV, Pulse and Icons...the biggest problem with G4 is that they had a lot of repeats...I don't know about Tech Tv, as I didn't receive that before, but I would imagine that they repeat their shows a lot as well....with them merging it will reach a wider audience, and maybe down the road produce better shows...
Mr. Anderson
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The best show on G4 is by far Arena. Those competitions can get really heated. I love G4, but I never really watched TechTV.
PapiChullo
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I like Tech TV, and I've only seen G4 a few times, but I liked it. If they combine, I hope they keep The Screensavers, X-Play and Call 4 Help. I would love an all gaming channel though.
suprsaiyanMAX
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Personally i don't like TechTV and the only thing worthwhile on it is Anime Unleashed. You get to see some good anime there, but everything else is pretty worthless in my opinion. I probably shouldn't say that because I don't know that much about computers and all the other stuff they talk about but I do know games. And when I watch something like X-Play I grow to dislike the network. Though I have to admit X-Play is at least than G4's review show Judgement or whatever the hell it is. So maybe comcast can make something positive by combining both networks.
this is the bestttt newsss everrr
i have never even glimpsed G4 i want to so damn bad but i have cablevision. i love techtv and xplay though since its the only videogame show i get. and morgan webb is just plain delish. maybe now i will get G4 and morgan will become a cross channel game diva and be offered to pose in playboy. maybe she will find my treehouse fort in her backyard when the seasons change and offer me down for some cocoa too.
i have never even glimpsed G4 i want to so damn bad but i have cablevision. i love techtv and xplay though since its the only videogame show i get. and morgan webb is just plain delish. maybe now i will get G4 and morgan will become a cross channel game diva and be offered to pose in playboy. maybe she will find my treehouse fort in her backyard when the seasons change and offer me down for some cocoa too.
that sucks that your favorite channel is pretty much gone, i never liked it (idont really like much ontv anyway) but it sucks that people did and its gone. ive watched g4, and 90% of the time ist junk, but its video game junk, soif its on i watch, but i doenjoy starcade and icons alot
Mr. Anderson
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Starcade is hilarious, I can't believe they actually made a show out of that.
MorganWebbLover
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Hell Yeah!
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[quote name='st0neface']I say they fire all 500 people that work at the stations and hire people who don't suck.[/quote]
I agree. And if they hire hot girls they can't be annoying or pair them with guys who have the look on their face that they are cool and are better than everyone because some girl got hired to stand next to them.
First Shows that should be cancelled: Judgment DAy and Electric Playground(anything with Toomy Tallarico, Victor Lucas is alright but both suck)
Shows that should stay include g4tv.com with new hosts and icons with an expansion to an hour instead of 30 minutes
I agree. And if they hire hot girls they can't be annoying or pair them with guys who have the look on their face that they are cool and are better than everyone because some girl got hired to stand next to them.
First Shows that should be cancelled: Judgment DAy and Electric Playground(anything with Toomy Tallarico, Victor Lucas is alright but both suck)
Shows that should stay include g4tv.com with new hosts and icons with an expansion to an hour instead of 30 minutes
MorbidAngel4Life
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do you think people with Dish network wil get it? cause i got TechTV and i LOVE it! Xplay is sooo cool, as is Anime Unleashed.
suprsaiyanMAX
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Hey it does sound like a witch's name....She's a witch, a witch I say. Burn her!
carlagyrl
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The cable people are a bunch of bitches!! I like Tech TV the way it is and G4 TV sucks!! They are always jacking up the price and charging me in advance for the next months service. The only reason why I still have their asses is because I get anime networkon demand and I cant get sattelite tv in my apartment complex. As soon as I move then I'm changing to directv or dish network! 
Wshakspear
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I'm just wondering where the anime "Last Exile" is going. great series, and i want it to get as much exposure as possible
EggViper
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ive been waiting for g4tv to come to dish network for a long time and it apears its finally gonna happen...although not in the way i expected. i love tech tv and i dont wanna c it go (or whatever their planning to do with it). i hope they keep the shows like fresh gear, the screen savers, xplay and others.
Wshakspear
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PapiChullo
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At least their bringing over a couple of my favorite tech tv shows.
Question, is G4 24/7 programming, or is it like Tech TV and runs paid programs after a certain time?
Question, is G4 24/7 programming, or is it like Tech TV and runs paid programs after a certain time?
bread's done