Whats so tech about tech TV these days???

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

02/10/2009 01:08:06 AM · #1

Tech TV used to have a great series named "call for help". And some other informative tech stuff. John C Dvorik, leo laporte and those guys made good contributions. Now all they do is show reruns of startrek, lost and a whole pile of certified CRAP. I'll stop by if its CES time of year, but all i do is surf right past it these days.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

02/10/2009 01:18:10 AM · #2

It's what happens to ALL the specialty channels sooner or later, if they are to grow. Remember when MTV was a steady diet of interesting and innovative rock videos? I used to watch it all the time and I can't even hear! Now I never bother to check it.

PLus I imagine the content of Tech TV has been subsumed by internet streaming video and so forth by now? It's cheaper and more directly targeted at the core audience? I could be wrong about that, I donno, but it seems to make sense.

Remember the basic rule of life in Broadcast media; either you grow, or you die.

R.

Haha! Post after mine shows I made a good guess :-)

Message edited by author 2009-02-10 01:20:03.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

02/10/2009 01:19:11 AM · #3

Tech TV was bought out by G4 tv a few years ago. (around '03 or '04 I think) and then they promptly dismantled all the good tech shows. If you listen to some of the podcasts produced by those hosts now, you can pick up a resentment toward what G4 did.

You can find many of those hosts now producing their shows on the internet as audio and video podcasts.
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Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

02/10/2009 09:41:18 AM · #4

Just does'nt make sense to me. In jamaica it used to be a popular station, now I dont know one person that watches it. I'm sure they probably lost viewing in the u.s. as well, so whats the point of destroying content and losing ratings?
If i had to advertise i'd never advertise on that station, because i think i'd be wasting my money.
Whoever bought it out clearly has more $$$$ than sense.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

02/10/2009 09:58:31 AM · #5

Originally posted by dmadden:

I'm sure they probably lost viewing in the u.s. as well, so whats the point of destroying content and losing ratings?

Well, they lost MY viewership for sure. I suppose their market research suggested there was more demand for gaming related shows and thus more money to be made in that area. I'm not a big tv watcher anyway, so I find podcasts more to my liking. I can get my dose of Leo & Co. while driving to work.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

02/10/2009 01:14:05 PM · #6

I need to get into this podcast thing, do they only download to ipods?

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

02/10/2009 03:20:15 PM · #7

Originally posted by dmadden:

I need to get into this podcast thing, do they only download to ipods?

Not at all. Most audio podcasts are simply MP3 files that you can play on anything. I currently use a Sandisk Clip. A handful of podcasts may come in an Ipod only format, but those are not common, as that restricts the potential audience.

Leo Laporte tried to get people to start using the term "netcast" a couple of years ago. I thought it was more accurate, because "podcast" is misleading, implying you need an IPod. Leo's idea did not stick, unfortunately. What makes them a podcast is that they are posted with an RSS feed, so you can subscribe to them using a special purpose RSS reader. I use Juice. Itunes also has podcasts built in. You can also usually download or play a podcast directly from the podcasters web site, but once you start listening to a few, you will want to start using a podcast client to automate it.

Video podcasts are a little trickier, since video formats are not as standardized as audio. I tend to just watch those on the computer if I want to see them. If I traveled a lot, I might be more interested in the video casts.

If listening in the car, and you don't have an auxiliary input to your car stereo, you will need an fm modulator to play over your car radio. I suggest staying away from the models that only have a choice of 3 or 4 channels. You want the kind that can broadcast on any frequency within it's range. Makes it easier to find a frequency without interference you can use. You can usually pick one up for $30-50 or so.

Message edited by author 2009-02-10 15:25:01.