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TechTV

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TechTV is a 24-hour technology cable and satellite television channel based in San Francisco, California, featuring news and shows about computers, technology and the Internet. It was originally called ZDTV by its founder, Ziff-Davis, when it debuted on May 11, 1998. It is currently owned by Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. Vulcan Ventures has sold TechTV to Comcast, who merged it with the video game channel G4 in late Spring of 2004. It came at a price: mixed sentiment.

Vulcan Ventures first invested in ZDTV in November 1998, acquiring a one-third interest in ZDTV from Ziff-Davis. In November 1999, Vulcan purchased the remaining two-thirds in a transaction that was completed on January 21, 2000. The deal was worth approximately $204.8 million. On August 21, 2000, ZDTV was renamed TechTV, and a new programming strategy was announced along with a slew of new shows.

TechTV boasts that it is currently available in more than 40 million households in the United States and Canada, as well as distributing content to more than 70 countries.

TechTV Canada launched on September 7, 2001, a joint venture of TechTV, Rogers Media Inc., and Shaw Communications Inc.

A few examples of its shows are the following:

TechTV has also recently added some new TV shows, such as Unscrewed and Spy School. A few of its personalities and hosts include Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, Jessica Corbin and Catherine Schwartz.

Since 1999, TechTV has had repeated layoffs. In 2002, Silicon Spin, which launched in May 1998, and AudioFile, launched in August 2000, were both cancelled, but were made up for with more new shows such as Performance (2003), Cybercrime, and Robot Wars (2003).

On March 25, 2004, G4, the gaming channel, announced a merger with TechTV. This move became hugely controversial among loyal fans of TechTV and Leo Laporte, because of a contract dispute with Vulcan that caused Laporte to temporarily leave TechTV. Once the takeover by Comcast is complete, his future on TechTV will once again be in doubt. Around May 6, G4 announced that they would fire 250 employees from the San Fransico office by July 10, 2004, allowing around 80-100 employees to transition to G4's main office in Los Angeles if they agreed to move to there [1].

On May 10, 2004, Comcast completed the acquisition of TechTV from Vulcan Programming Inc. G4TechTV was launched in the US and Canada on May 28, 2004. TechTV International did not change and its future is uncertain. As of June 6, 2004, TechTV International is still broadcasting the old TechTV feed. Rumours on Slashdot say it will be shut down soon and G4TechTV will be US/Canada only, but rumour is that E! Networks has brought the international distribution rights for G4TechTV shows.

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