# G4TechTV is coming soon!



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Comcast Completes Acquisition of TechTV

PHILADELPHIA, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Corporation today announced that it has completed the purchase of TechTV from Vulcan Programming, Inc. and, as planned, will merge it with G4, the Comcast-owned television network devoted to video games and the gamer lifestyle. EchoStar Communications Corporation will have an equity interest in the combined entity. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Beginning May 28, the two channels will merge into one network called G4TechTV and will be available in approximately 44 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. The merged channel will be headquartered in Los Angeles. "We are confident that G4TechTV will offer value to the many affiliates; advertisers; content partners; and viewers of both G4 and TechTV," said Charles Hirschhorn, CEO of the merged network. "The combined programming lineup will let viewers continue to enjoy their favorite shows while, at the same time, introducing them to new programming. Additionally, we have begun to develop new, exciting original programming that will premiere later this year."

Viewers who have questions about the merger may log onto
http://www.g4techtv.com for more information.

*Source*


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## James Hill (Jul 24, 2003)

FYI...

List of shows making it from TechTV:

Anime Unleashed
Body Hits
Eye Drops
Fresh Gear
Future Fighting Machines
Invent This
Nerd Nation
Robot Wars
The Screen Savers
Thunderbirds
Unscrewed
X-Play

Not on the list: Call For Help and TechLive

James Hill


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Where did the list come from?


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## BFG (Jan 23, 2004)

So for the people that currently have both G4 and TechTV, I guess the TechTV channel will go offline and the new channel will be on G4. And for the those that only have either G4 or TechTV the new station will just be on that channel


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## James Hill (Jul 24, 2003)

Geronimo said:


> Where did the list come from?


Off of Leoville.com. Someone when through the G4TechTV.com site and compiled this list from the information on that site.

James Hill


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

This is going to be interesting. At the last CGExpo, I spoke with a buddy of mine, and he has said some not-too-good things about G4. 

At least they're keeping Anime Unleashed. We just need some fresh anime.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Well I must be missing something. I don't see a list like that on g4techtv.com.


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## gglockner (Mar 25, 2004)

g4techtv.com only seems to be showing a preview schedule -- the programs that each network will be carrying from the other during some transition phase.


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## lee120 (Dec 2, 2002)

http://www.g4techtv.com/faq.html


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Thanks Lee. I found it. They sure aren't highlighting it. Not much of a website for a "tech" channel?


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## BFG (Jan 23, 2004)

they certainly didnt put any effort into coming up for a channel name, G4TechTV, now that's catchy!


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I had a feeling that they would get rid of Call For Help but keep The Screen Savers because people call in for questions on The Screen Savers as well so they figured that the one show would be good enough, seeing how they are both alike.


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## Marvin (Sep 14, 2003)

A couple of things:

ZDTV launched on May 11th, 1998 (the channel TechTV used to be) so it managed to last 6 years, which back then was about 5 years longer than I expected given the initial shows that were aired and the lame promos and stuff. Back then I stumbled across it on May 12th on the big C Band dish which was before many places carried it initially. Im also guessing that it will go bye-bye from C-Band as one of the last good in the clear (read: free) channels.

Outside of the Screensavers, X Play and Anime Unleashed, I don't expect many of the Tech TV programs to last very long. Thunderbirds hasn't even been on in a while after all they went through to bring it to Tech TV, although with the new movie coming along they might revive it again.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

All of the best programming has long since evaporated, such as Silicon Spin hosted by John C. Dvorak. The Screensavers was the only show worthy of audience attention, and that's not saying very much. Unscrewed with Martin Sargeant was an absolute disgrace. I'm not sad to see any of these programs go off the air.


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## James Hill (Jul 24, 2003)

Marvin said:


> Im also guessing that it will go bye-bye from C-Band as one of the last good in the clear (read: free) channels.


Already did. Weekend before last.

TechTV's definetly shifted its focus over the last year. The current version of TSS is horrible and Unscrewed is just an excuse to put porn three clicks off of the main TechTV.com page.

The speculation is that G4TechTV is just a temporary name. Once things settle down most feel they'll go to being just "G4".

The question now is what will Leo Laporte do? It's safe to assume he could wind up doing another big computer show that would rival G4's best in the ratings.

James Hill


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## Marvin (Sep 14, 2003)

James Hill said:


> Already did. Weekend before last.
> 
> The question now is what will Leo Laporte do? It's safe to assume he could wind up doing another big computer show that would rival G4's best in the ratings.
> 
> James Hill


 Man, that shows you how much I watched it as of late. I used to watch the show every day for TSS and Call For Help when it was CFH at 7 and TSS at 9.

Leo I think stilll does a radio show but I imagine hes burnt out from carrying Tech TV for the last few years. My guess is after a while he'll be back doing something for TV...but alas there will be no more of Leo's Tech Almanacs..:lol:


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## Tele-TV (Nov 26, 2003)

FINALLY!!! :balloons: Thanks for the info Chris.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

So they say not until the end of May is "G4TechTV" officially coming, right?

However, last night on TechTV, I saw a show I'd never seen before called "Arena", which involved two teams of players battling it out in various games. The program guide said Robot Wars should be on, but obviously it wasn't. Does this mean that the G4 programming is already being migrated onto TechTV?


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## narnia777 (Mar 28, 2003)

Yeah, that show Arena and a couple others are being shown in place of Robot wars... http://g4techtv.com has the temp schedule.

It is very sad that all the general computer and tech shows are slowly getting squeezed out by the video game content. The new channel will not be the same, they have the potentional to make it better, they should have expanded the tech programming and got rid of the fluff that isn't tech related.

I'll miss call for help and tech live, my other favorites the screensavers and fresh gear are still listed on the new network but without the same people doing them will it be as good?

Those 4 shows are the only ones I watch regulally. I do catch Nerd Nation, Spy School, Invent This and a few others once in a while but none are as good as the computer tech shows that I crave.

Jim


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## Tele-TV (Nov 26, 2003)

It's going to be Cool!  to see coverage of E3 (even though I don't play my games anymore).


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

> All of the best programming has long since evaporated, such as Silicon Spin hosted by John C. Dvorak. The Screensavers was the only show worthy of audience attention, and that's not saying very much. Unscrewed with Martin Sargeant was an absolute disgrace. I'm not sad to see any of these programs go off the air.


Not many times have I said it, but James I fully agree with you. Channel 191 on Dish or 354 on DirecTV has been dead for along time, IMO. It died on September 18th 2000, the day it became TechTV, I still remember the advertising catch phrase 'TechTV. It's ZDTV version 2.0' I used to tune into ZDTV every night, Call For Help at 7, ZDTV News at 8 or 8:30, The Screen Savers at 9. Used to watch almost every ZDTV show on a regular basis, except for Internet Tonight, which was just plain retarded. The Screen Savers and Call For Help that have been on recently are not even like what they used to me. They used to be real call in help shows, I got back into TSS when I got my new computer this past winter, and they took an average of 2-3 calls it seemed like and had filler the rest of the show. Call For Help was a great show for basic to intermediate questions and I learned a lot from the show. The Screen Savers was great for the more advanced concepts and learning why things work the way the do. I enjoyed both shows and learned a lot, and it's a shame that they're gone.


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## James_F (Apr 23, 2002)

Steve Mehs said:


> Not many times have I said it, but James I fully agree with you.


I have taken a screenshot just in case you try and disagree with something I say again.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Damn, you might be able to use that as blackmail against me someday


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## Mike Richardson (Jun 12, 2003)

According to this page http://www.techtv.com//tvshows/gettechtv/story/0,23350,2122587,00.html it says that TechTV is still availabe on c-band with a digital IRD. I am assuming it's unscrambled. But the old analog feed (which took up a whole transponder) is gone. It was probably expensive to rent the transponder. I imagine they originally did it in order to get into as many homes as possible initially. Who knows how many people first saw ZDTV on their big dish.


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## homeskillet (Feb 3, 2004)

Somebody somewhere will create another satellite channel much like ZDTV... I just have a feeling.


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## stonecold (Feb 20, 2004)

homeskillet said:


> Somebody somewhere will create another satellite channel much like ZDTV... I just have a feeling.


There is much rumor flying going around Leo Laportes forums.

He was in Dallas just on saturday the 22nd, for a big Dish Network PROMO = HDTV thing.... Well Leo and Charlie have known each other for a long time... and aparently Leo has connections to Mark Cuban .... Leo being hinting about starting up what some would belive is another tech tv but backed by Charlie and Mark.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

Sounds very interesting. Ever since Leo had troubles with TechTv me and others thought that he should launch his own tech channel. I think another one is needed that could be different than the way TechTv does it, something with a different perspective. It would be very interesting if Dish Network and Leo teamed up to start a technical channel.


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

and on the last show he said see you on tv soon


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

There were not enough viewers before. there still aren't.


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## Unthinkable (Sep 13, 2002)

As an avid gamer who used to regularly write Dish Network requesting they add G4 to their programming lineup, I have to say I've been really disappointed with what they show over the last two weeks time. They've been airing a lot of their normal shows on TechTV recently and quite frankly some of its really, really bad. One show called "Arena" features a bunch of pimple-faced nerdly teams trashtalking one another with actual play-by-play commentary as they play videogames as if its a real sport. Talk about your ultimate dork factor and I love videogames. That isn't quite what I was hoping for sadly. Hopefully its a lot better then what they've been airing during this transition period. Couple of shows on E3 were ok, but they have two females (one a punker with short blonde spiked hair and a nose ring) who are pretty annoying to say the least. The one gal is definately no Morgan Webb in the looks, brains, or humor department. Xtended Play used to be one of the best shows before it evolved into X-Play. Still much better then 90% of the stuff I've seen on G4 so far though.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

It appears that the changeover will take place at around midnight, since it shows Anime Unleased airing on both TechTV and G4. The current schedule is at www.g4tv.com, but right now, it's a mess.

For example, _Anime Unleased_ has no series/episode titles beyond Friday. Without any program data, the guide providers revert to a "generic" episode description, and consider every episode to be a new episode.

This has also occurred with local airings of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_. Since the series airs repeats during the week as well as new episodes on the weekend, it frequenty happens that the WB doesn't know which episode they are going to air. Back to generic description and record as new. (This is for episodes more than one week out, and is usually corrected by the time the episdoe airs.)

Oh well, I'm still play episode cleanup since they made the change to the schedule for both _Aqua Team Hunger Force_ :barf: and _Case Closed_ (jury is still out).


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Since DISH owns a piece of this channel I don't see them bankrolling a channel to compete with it.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Wow I'm really going to miss Call For Help. Thats interesting too, because I thought Leo just recently renewed his contract with TechTv? What happened?


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I seen the previous Call For Help hosts on The Screen Savers and they were still broadcasting the show from San Francisco and not from L.A. yet. They were filling in for Kevin and Sarah. When are they going to start broadcasting from L.A. and are we to expect some of the previous hosts from Call For Help to remain on The Screen Savers?


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## patriots (Aug 15, 2004)

Would anyone know if you can now see G4TechTV on the C- band big dish? Or with what I have, C-band 4DTV? And if yes would you know that Satellite and channel? Also would anyone know of any feeds on the New England Patriots?
Thanks,
Bob


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

Try this http://members.rogers.com/4dtv/
Google is yhour friend.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

When are the new episodes in L.A. going to air?


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

According to Sarah Lane a new set debuts Sept 7. My guess si taht is the LA debut.


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## cclement (Mar 22, 2004)

Leo is hosting "Call For Help" again... In Canada! He is hosting the show on G4techtv Canda. You can read about it at:

http://www.g4techtv.ca/canada/leo/


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

I watched G4TechTV a few times since it changed hands. Not much programming I care for, it's a shame what ZDTV turned into.


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## cclement (Mar 22, 2004)

Steve Mehs said:


> I watched G4TechTV a few times since it changed hands. Not much programming I care for, it's a shame what ZDTV turned into.


Couldn't agree more. I used to watch ZDTV all the time, but since Comcast has bought it, it has been terrible.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

James_F said:


> All of the best programming has long since evaporated, such as Silicon Spin hosted by John C. Dvorak. The Screensavers was the only show worthy of audience attention, and that's not saying very much. Unscrewed with Martin Sargeant was an absolute disgrace. I'm not sad to see any of these programs go off the air.


Sargent fits right into G4TechTV: garbage, junk!!!!!!!


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